


The Jealousy Game

by aeries_amethyst



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Drama, Enemies to Lovers, Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M, Minor Huang Ren Jun/Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas, Minor Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee, Romance, Sexual Tension, Slow Burn, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 00:28:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 29,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28947444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aeries_amethyst/pseuds/aeries_amethyst
Summary: “Jealous that he finally upgraded for someone much better than you?” Jaemin snips, turning his nose up at Jeno haughtily.Jeno narrows his eyes at him briefly before smoothing his features into an expression that is much too nonchalant. Something about that look doesn’t sit right with Jaemin and he knows that he won’t like the next words that come out of his mouth.“Well, seeing that the guy he’s making out with is your ex, I’d say he upgraded as well,” he answers airily, taking yet another sip of his beer as if he didn’t just drop a bomb on his head (and his heart).ORDespite knowing each other almost all their lives, Jeno and Jaemin have never gotten along. Yet now, after being dumped by their respective boyfriends, they've decided to hatch a harebrained scheme to make their exes jealous by engaging in a fake relationship.Unfortunately, things don't go according to plan when they end up falling for each other instead.
Relationships: Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin
Comments: 34
Kudos: 149





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I decided to bite the bullet and post this story to AO3. There will be a number of differences from the twitter version because the socmed parts will be scrapped and instead, I'll add more narrations to certain sections. 
> 
> I do hope that you enjoy the story as much as I've enjoyed writing it!

This night has not been going as expected at all and now Jaemin needs a fucking drink. If only drinking away his problems actually made them go away permanently instead of temporarily - he’d be a whole lot happier if that was the case. Of course, things were never that easy for him. There was always something that never went the way he wanted to in his life. 

It has been one hell of a week for him, especially since his (now ex) boyfriend of five years decided to break up with him because he “just wasn’t feeling it anymore and would rather be friends”.

Jaemin had thought that they could have had a future together and that they were truly meant to be – but apparently, he was the only one who thought so, seeing as he was the one who was dumped just like that. He was completed blindsided because he never even saw it coming. He must have been seeing everything through rose tinted glasses for him to miss the signs that it wasn’t working out. How could he be so oblivious to not realize until it was too late?

There was no way in hell he wanted to be ‘just friends’ with his ex. He thought Mark Lee was the perfect guy, husband material even. That boy next door type that you bring home to your parents and they’d fawn over him immediately. He was just that type of guy. He was hard working, good looking and understanding. He was the whole package.

They had so many wonderful memories together. They were so good together. How the hell was he supposed to pretend as if he didn’t invest so much time and energy into a relationship that ended just like that?

_Was it really over?_

_Was their relationship really not worth fighting for?_

_How could he give up on them at this point?_

_When did he fall out of love?_

_Why did he fall out of love?_

Looking back, Jaemin wonders to himself if he was unlovable - if it was something that he did or did not do. He hated feeling like this. He was heartbroken.

Therefore, after getting fed up dealing with all these emotions, he figured he needed to do something about it. So, when he heard about the upcoming frat party, he made the decision to stop his moping and drag his sorry ass out of bed so that he could reconnect with the outside world. He would show them that Na Jaemin was not going to become a shell of his former self just because of a man – a man that he was still in love with, mind you, but he refused to entertain that thought.

The party was a good opportunity for him to escape for a bit, to have fun and feel like himself again. It was at the right moment in time and just what he needed. But of course, some things never go according to plan.

He was _supposed_ to be here partying with his friends, only for them to bail at the last possible minute. Seeing as he was already dressed and ready to go, it was pointless to stay in and not go anywhere. So, he marched his perky little ass over to the frat house of the night and made sure to show his pretty face to the relevant partygoers – to say that yes, he arrived and he’s here to make an entrance.

He may be a social butterfly, but he wasn’t in the mood to socialize with randoms. He preferred the company of his friends to drink his worries away. He came out tonight to get smashed and maybe show his ex-boyfriend exactly what he’s missing out on. If things went right, he might even win him over again and they’d somehow work things out.

That’s why he made sure he was dressed to impress in the tightest pair of ripped jeans he owns that make his ass look amazing and a slinky silvery V-neck blouse that showed a tantalizing view of his collarbones and chest. He would have worn his leather skirt but he didn’t shave and it was way too fucking cold out for him to put himself through all of that. Plus, he loved seeing the look of envy that girls shot him every time they saw him in a skirt because he rocked it better than they did. Not his fault that he had killer legs - he was blessed with good genes after all. Besides, the appreciative looks from all the guys eyeing him made it more than worth it. He thrives off of the attention.

However, as the night wears on, he finds himself zoning out and not enjoying the party as he hoped he would have. It has only been about an hour and he’s already tired of putting on a facade. Maybe it’s time for another drink. Clearly the fastest way to get over this night is to not be sober. He slinks through the crowd to make his way over to the drinks counter.

It’s as he ponders over what type of beer to choose that he notices a body sidling up beside him. Ah, so he’s got some company. He plasters on a fake smile, ready to greet whoever it is, only for the smile to be immediately wiped off his face and replaced with a scowl. He almost wants to face palm himself (or punch the other person), because out of all the fucking guys for him to bump into tonight, it just had to be this one.

There in his all-black muscle tee and ripped jeans was Lee Jeno - the bane of his existence, the thorn in his side and a pain in his ass. The same Lee Jeno who he’s been feuding with ever since middle school.

Why can’t fate give him a break for once? This is not his night at all.

“Can you like not antagonize me for one fucking day?” he hisses, not even bothering to keep the contempt out of his tone. He has no patience for any kind of fuckery right now. Jeno barely even spares him a glance at his remark.

“Believe it or not princess, I’m not in the mood to argue with you tonight.” Jeno scoffs, rolling his eyes as he reaches for a beer. Jaemin eyes him warily as he crosses his arms over his chest. It’s obvious that the other guy isn’t his usual self, he seems more subdued than usual.

“Not that I care or anything, but what’s your deal?” he asks, trying to tamper down the curiosity within his tone. Jeno raises an eyebrow at him and smirks.

“Curious, aren’t you?” his grin is much too cocky and Jaemin wants to smack it off his face.

He scoffs in response, “As if!” he vehemently replies.

“Whatever you say,” he shrugs it off, “Anyways, to answer your question. I’d rather not have to see my ex sucking face with another guy,”

“Jealous that he finally upgraded for someone much better than you?” Jaemin snips, turning his nose up at Jeno haughtily. Jeno narrows his eyes at him briefly before smoothing his features into an expression that is much too nonchalant. Something about that look doesn’t sit right with Jaemin and he knows that he won’t like the next words that come out of his mouth.

“Well, seeing that the guy he’s making out with is your ex, I’d say he upgraded as well,” he answers airily, taking yet another sip of his beer as if he didn’t just drop a bomb on his head (and his heart).

Jaemin whips his head around at the statement, scanning the room just to confirm with his own eyes that yes, that was his ex of only one week passionately locking lips with Jeno’s ex. He couldn’t decide if he was more furious or hurt at the sight. This was so ridiculously ironic. Of all the fucking guys he could go for, he chooses the ex of his long-standing rival, Lee Donghyuck. Here he thought that he’d be the one in that position kissing his boyfriend again, maybe he had hoped for too much. It wasn’t as if Mark had even contacted him after the break up, but Jaemin had convinced himself that it was just because he was giving him space. He believed that maybe they needed some time apart to work on themselves before they gave it another shot.

Looking at these two together, they look way too intimate for this to have been the first time that they’ve interacted like this. If he recalls, Mark and Donghyuck share classes together and did meet up from time to time. He had brushed it off as a regular platonic relationship, but there could have been a mutual interest blooming between them all this time.

Was this the reason why they broke up - because he found someone else?

He was no longer interested in Jaemin, because his interests had changed to someone new. He couldn’t even wait a week before cuddling up to someone new, but there he was shoving it right in his face.

How dare he move on that quickly? As if Jaemin was nothing to him. Na Jaemin was not someone that you were supposed to get over just like that – especially not after two years. He thought that maybe they could give their relationship another chance, that there was still some hope left – yet there his ex was holding another guy ever so gently as if he were made of glass and kissing him sweetly. He kissed him with a tender familiarity, as if they’d been together for a long while. Jaemin can’t even remember the last time Mark kissed him like that. It’s like a slap in the face. Jaemin could feel the tears of frustration welling up in his eyes but he refused to shed a single tear in public.

“Careful there, princess. You might burn a hole in them with that glare,” whispers the smug voice in his ear. He had almost forgotten that Jeno was still there. With the way the elder’s body was now pressed up against his back all warm and solid, he wonders how on earth he could have possibly missed his presence when it was so suffocating. The heady scent of his cologne has him light headed and he shakes his head to clear his traitorous thoughts.

“Why do you care?” he huffs, rolling his eyes and turning his head away just so that he doesn’t have to see his stupidly handsome face.

“I’m not saying I don’t, but at least I don’t make it as obvious as you do,” Jeno reasons with a shrug.

“Oh, give me a break. Excuse me for not being able to control my emotions as well as you do, _‘Stone Face’_!” Jaemin seethes, already getting more riled up than he expected to be – but he happens to have a bit of a temper when it comes to Jeno.

Jaemin has a tendency to be very petty and childish after all and he knows this fact more than anyone else – often being on the receiving end of his pettiness.

“Don’t get mad, get even. It’s as simple as that.” He explains coolly, not losing him composure.

The blond pauses and mulls over his words.

_Get even?_

It can’t possibly be that simple. This is not a simple situation with a simple solution. It makes everything seem trivial - it sounds way too good to be true. Nonetheless, Jaemin’s interest is piqued. Lee Jeno may either be on to something brilliant or may just be high on something.

“What do you suggest?” he inquires, tilting his head to the side as he gives the brunette a once over.

“You’re jealous, right? So, make him get jealous too. If he can make out with another guy, so can you.”

“And which random fortunate soul should I use as such a candidate?”

The smirk that spreads across Jeno’s face is almost feral. Jaemin refuses to acknowledge how that expression seems to stir up something inside of him – there is no way in hell Jeno Lee could muster up any emotion within him aside from distaste and disgust.

The brunette draws his face towards him, just so he can purr in his ear in a dangerously low voice, “Me,”

Jaemin’s voice catches in his throat, temporarily rendered speechless by the answer before he snaps out of his stupor. Lee Jeno must be messing with his mind. He can’t have that kind of effect on him otherwise.

“Are you out of your damn mind?!” he bleats, “Why the hell would I even want to touch you, much less kiss you?!”

The audacity of this man to even suggest such an idea has him reeling in disbelief.

“We might not be on the best terms, but neither of us can deny that the other is attractive,” with that, Jeno rakes his eyes all over Jaemin’s body from head to toe – almost as if he was undressing him - and it makes him shudder at the intensity, “I only suggested it because we’d be killing two birds with one stone, since I’d be getting back at my ex as well,”

“We’d need more than just a kiss for that,” he mutters, his throat suddenly dry.

Why was he even entertaining this conversation?

This was insane. They’d have to go all in to make this believable. Jaemin could hardly even believe he was giving Jeno the time of day over this idea. Was he going to lower himself to canoodle with his enemy, just to make a statement to his ex? It was a petty shot, but it wasn’t as if Jaemin was unaccustomed to the ways of pettiness at its finest form. A kiss was harmless, it wasn’t as if they were going to sleep together or anything.

“You’re right, that’s why we should fake date,” he suggests, very matter-of-factly, as he stares Jaemin straight in the eyes. Jaemin wants to laugh, but he can tell that Jeno is dead serious.

Forget the kiss, this was getting serious. He must have been hearing things now. Lee Jeno had to be out of his damn mind!

There was no way in hell that they could pull this off – not as if he’d willingly agree to it in the first place or anything. He wouldn’t stoop to that level. Was he that desperate to get back at his ex that he’d agree to this half-assed plan? Sure, he knows that he puts the petty in pretty, but is this something that he would ever want to resort to?

“We barely even get along as is. In fact, we don’t even like each other. Yet you think it’s such a brilliant idea for us to pretend that we’ve suddenly seen the light and now we’re into each other?”

His mind is still reeling from Jeno’s words, trying to make sense of everything. This is unfathomable to him.

“It’s worth a shot, isn’t it? It’s not as impossible as you think it is. We don’t even have to lie about why we got together either – just two lonely heartbroken souls bonding over the fact that their exes decided to date each other and realizing that they have much more in common than they originally realized.”

When Jeno states it like that, he does sum up their situation very simply – though it’s more wishful thinking than anything else at this point.

Jaemin looks up at Jeno, like really looks at him, trying to figure out what is going through that head of his. He’s not even sure what he’s looking for but it suddenly occurs to him that he’s never been this close to Jeno before. Of course, he’s also never had a decent conversation with Jeno before tonight.

_Why would he have needed to be this close to Jeno otherwise?_

The proximity must be doing something to his mind because he can’t seem to look away from the man before him. Instead of searching Jeno’s face for answers like he had intended, he’s instead distracted by how Jeno’s eyes seem to darken as they take him in, the way his pupils dilate and how his eyes become half lidded.

Jaemin muses to himself that the elder does have pretty brown eyes and enviably long eyelashes. He’s always known in the back of his mind that Jeno was quite handsome, even if he refused to admit it out loud. Seeing him this close leaves him almost breathless. There is something in his dark gaze that seems to trap Jaemin within its midst.

Jeno seems to take this as his cue and moves in even closer, caging him against the counter with his arms and drawing their faces together until there’s barely a hair’s breadth of space between them. There’s a tension in the air, almost suffocating. Jaemin knows that Jeno is using this to test him, giving him the opportunity to push or pull.

There is a beat of silence and then they clash.

Jaemin has no idea who moves first, but the next thing he knows is that there are plump demanding lips pressed against his, prying his lips apart to lick into his mouth and steal his breath away. Jeno doesn’t start the kiss off slow and take his time. No, he goes straight in for the kill – moving his lips with a hunger that has Jaemin keening. He kisses like he wants to dominate, plundering and claiming like he wants to own Jaemin. The imagery turns him on way more than he expects it to.

He gasps, clutching on to Jeno’s shoulders as he tries to keep up the pace – tangling their tongues together. He refuses to submit that easily without putting up a decent fight.

Jeno’s hands find purchase on his waist and he’s suddenly hoisted on top of the counter with his legs wrapped around the elder’s waist.

It feels like a battle with how intense things get – rutting himself against the hard planes of Jeno’s body and threading his fingers through the inky blue locks of the elder’s hair. Whilst Jeno squeezes his hips hard enough to bruise.

After they finally part for air, instead of reconnecting their mouths, he trails his lips down the slope of Jaemin’s neck. He takes in the sweet spicy scent of the younger’s cologne – like vanilla, patchouli and cinnamon - and he wants to leave his marks on the unblemished skin.

Jaemin tilts his head further back to give Jeno more space to work with as he sucks and nips at his pulse point, arching his back and choking on a moan when the elder decides to roll his hips at the same time that he laves over a sensitive spot. If Jeno keeps this up, Jaemin just may end up cumming in his pants with how painfully hard he is right now.

Jeno pauses his torturous assault to nuzzle at his neck, “Are they watching?”

It takes a few beats for Jaemin to register that he’s been asked a question, since Jeno’s presence has proven to be **very** distracting. Dazedly, he wonders to himself who Jeno is talking about, but as he opens his eyes – barely able to recall when he had closed them in the first place – he notices that almost everyone is watching them, some even going as far as to record them on their phones and take pictures. There’s a lot of hollering and catcalls – and others whispering amongst themselves at the show. Someone even yells at them to get a room.

How the hell had he managed to tune out all of this noise out? The effect of Lee Jeno must have been more powerful than he gave him credit for.

“There are a lot of people watching us,” he mumbles, feeling a little self-conscious at being the centre of attention, but not enough to push Jeno away – he is dastardly good with his tongue after all and he quite likes having him between his legs.

“Does that include Mark and Donghyuck?” he rumbles, low enough so only Jaemin can hear.

Jaemin blinks at the question.

It’s the mention of those two names in particular that hauls Jaemin back to reality and reminds him about why they were doing this in the first place. He got so caught up in the kiss that he totally forgot about his priorities. What is wrong with him?

It’s as he’s trying to gather his bearings that he accidentally locks eyes with Mark, to see him looking back at him with an unreadable expression in his eyes, something about it puts him on edge. That’s when it really hits him, that this is actually happening. This is all part of the plan, right? They’ve got their attention, but now what? Does he want to go further or does he want to put a stop to the show? He’s put on the spot and he has no idea what to do – never having expected to get to this point. He hadn’t even agreed to Jeno’s stupid plan yet he ended up making out with him anyways.

He’s starting to feel a little overwhelmed, almost light headed and he tenses up. Jeno senses the shift in his body language and raises his head to peer at the blond.

There is a hand at his cheek and once again, he’s staring straight into Jeno’s eyes.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” he asks quietly, almost cautiously.

He’s not sure how to communicate his thoughts effectively, but he knows that he needs to get some air.

“I think I want to leave now,” he pleads, his voice coming out weaker than he would have liked but he doesn’t have it in him to put up a brave front. He’s tired both physically and mentally.

Surprisingly, Jeno doesn’t question his decision. He takes him by the hand, guides him off the counter and leads him to the door – making sure to deliberately walk past Mark and Donghyuck – even going so far as to shoot the latter a smirk. Jaemin however, doesn’t meet Mark’s eyes, choosing instead to focus on the broadness of Jeno’s back.

He overhears people speculating about whether or not he and Jeno are going to fuck, even going as far as to congratulate them on finally doing something about the sexual tension between them – but Jaemin knows that sex with Jeno is not what’s on his mind at the moment.

The cool air feels refreshing after being in the stuffy atmosphere of the party for so long. The silence between them isn’t totally awkward, but it’s obvious that there are some things that need to be said.

“Look, I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened back there. Everything was fine up until I saw him and I just…I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I wish that we had more time to discuss this,” he’s rambling, but he can’t help himself, “Maybe then everything wouldn’t be so confusing,”

“Do you regret it?”

“Regret what?”

“The kiss,”

The question has him doing a double take. He fumbles for an answer. Does he regret it? He’s not sure what to say. He must take too long to answer, because Jeno seems to take his silence as a confirmation.

“Do you want to stop the plan? Because if you want to back out, then you can.”

“No!” he yelps, surprising both himself and Jeno with outburst, “I’m still game, I just need to sort myself out, maybe.”

“You don’t need to push yourself if you don’t want to. I know you may not think highly of me, but I’m not the kind of guy to force himself on someone,”

“Trust me, if I thought you were forcing yourself on me, I wouldn’t have kissed you back, but I would have punched you in the face,”

“I guess I am pretty irresistible if Na Jaemin thinks I’m kissable,”

Of course, he just had to ruin the mood with his big mouth.

“Don’t flatter yourself there, Romeo. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

“Ah, you’re no fun, Juliet. Besides, there is always time for _head_ ,”

“Can you not think with your dick?”

“It’s a pretty big dick, I can’t help it if it has a mind of its own at times,”

“Seems like that’s the only mind you have most of the time,”

“You say that as if you didn’t get hard just from making out with me and like you aren’t still hard now,”

His rebuttal leaves Jaemin sputtering, his face flushes in embarrassment.

“T-that was just a fluke! I got caught up in the moment!”

“Sure thing, princess. Just admit that I make you horny,”

“In your dreams,” he mutters.

“Oh, I’ll be sure to make these dreams into a reality,” he shoots him a sleazy wink that makes Jaemin want to smack him over the head.

“Ugh, you are so fucking annoying,”

“Hmmm, I’ve been called worse.” He chuckles good naturedly, “So, are we going to exchange numbers now or not?”

“Being this demanding isn’t cute,”

“It’s part of my charm, princess. You’ll get used to it.”

“I’d rather not have to,” he snarks back, but there’s no heat behind it.

Usually, when they argue, there is a lot of venom and vitriol, but tonight’s banter was teasing and flirtatious. It was different, but Jaemin didn’t mind that. He and Jeno certainly weren’t friends in the least and nowhere near lovers, but he supposes that they can be cordial with each other for the time being. Jeno did after all, walk him home.

Nonetheless, they exchange their contact details and make a promise to discuss their newfound partnership in more detail later. For some reason, Jaemin is almost anticipating their next encounter. He might actually be excited, but he’ll blame those bubbly feelings on all the liquor he consumed.

As he watches Jeno stroll back to his frat, he wonders to himself, what exactly did he sign himself up for when he decided to make this kind of deal with the devil?


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Since I had to kiss your mouth, I need something to cleanse my palette.” He huffs as he rolls his eyes and crosses his arms over his chest. He could use some coffee right now.
> 
> “At least now you can say that your taste has improved, since you’ve gotten a taste of me.” Jeno quips and Jaemin knows that he’s teasing him now. Jaemin is also reminded that he can still taste Jeno on his lips.
> 
> “More like a downgrade, if you ask me,” he mutters under his breath, but with the snort her he receives in response, he’s sure that Jeno heard him loud and clear.
> 
> “Believe me, princess, you’ll want more than just a mere taste of me,” his tone is velvety smooth, the words sound like a wicked promise and it sends a ripple of heat through his system. He does not need to bite off more than he can chew when it comes to Lee Jeno. He bites his lip and takes a step back, not looking the other in the eye. He needs to learn how to get a hold of himself, even if there is a devilish voice in the back of his mind that tries to convince him about how tempting it would be to give in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was originally chapter two and three, but I decided to combine the chapters into one because chapter two was so short. I've made some changes to the chapters by adding more narrations. I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Jaemin wakes up to a barrage of messages on his phone and clips of him and Jeno making out all over socmed. He can’t say that he’s surprised that it blew up, but he can say that he didn’t realize that it would blow up _this_ much. Apparently, his and Jeno’s rivalry was more notorious than he realized, especially since they were both fairly popular.

They wanted attention and they got it. News of their liaison last night had spread like wildfire.

As he glances in the mirror to examine his appearance, he notices all the hickies that Jeno left on his neck. He hisses as he presses down on one particularly sensitive spot. Jeno certainly went a little overboard, but he doesn’t mind as much as he thought he would – he twitches in his pants a little when he remembers how it felt to receive each and every one of those love bites. He shakes his head to dispel those traitorous thoughts before his mind gets a little too carried away.

He has a bone to pick with Jeno for marking him up like this. Was he a fucking vampire?

Speaking of Jeno, he should be there any minute to discuss their plan - the plan that he still can’t seem to wrap his mind around no matter how hard he tries. He can’t believe he actually agreed to this nonsense.

Fake dating is all part of the plan. Yet once again, he wonders what exactly is he getting out of this plan? Rather, what does he actually want from all of this? This plan is supposed to help him in some way, but how?

Yes, he loved Mark – actually, he’s pretty sure that he still loves Mark – maybe some part of him will always love him. However, will this plan work out in his favour and get them back together? Even if he gets Mark jealous, there is no guarantee that everything will fall into place and then he’ll realize that they’re meant to be. That might be more than a little wishful thinking on his part.

Honestly, he’s still not even sure why he agreed to this ridiculous plan in the first place. This better be worth it in the long run - but maybe by then he won’t even want to be with Mark anymore.

He finds that highly unlikely. How could he ever not want Mark? Mark was his everything. Mark was his first and last love.

Yes, his pride is still wounded over the fact that Mark left him, just like that. He wonders why he was not enough. Was his love not enough? He can’t help but berate himself for being lacking in some way or maybe he was too much. Is that why it didn’t work out?

There’s a knock on his door that snaps him out of his thoughts and once again, Jaemin is graced by the presence of Lee Jeno, waltzing in as if he owns the place.

He feels Jeno’s gaze zero in on his neck and he swears that his eyes darken, but just as quickly as that look passes his eyes, it disappears. Jeno shakes his head and quirks his lips.

“I figured you’d need something sweet to go with all the bitterness of that coffee,” he states as he hands Jaemin a cinnamon bagel with cream cheese along with his requested Americano. The elder had offered to buy him coffee on his way over and nearly had a heart attack when Jaemin gave him his usual order.

“Oh, um…Thanks,” he murmurs, he certainly wasn’t expecting Jeno to get him anything else besides the coffee. It’s a sweet gesture, but he’d rather not look too deep into it.

If he really thinks about it, Jeno has been taking him by surprise ever since last night with holding his hand and walking him home – he’s been playing the part of a gentleman better than Jaemin would have thought him to. He’s making it clear that it really isn’t that impossible for them to find a stable rhythm with each other.

Maybe, just maybe, this plan can work.

Quickly, they get down to business – sitting at opposite ends of Jaemin’s couch as they face each other. They go over the basics, just to figure out the mechanics of how best they could execute everything. They even decided on the finer details – how affectionate they should be in public, how they ended up together, how long they should stay together, how much they should post about each other, how to tell if their plan is working, what to tell their friends, what to do if they encounter their exes and when to call the plan off. There are a lot of tangles to smoothen out.

Even though they start off with a wide breadth between them, once they’re deep in discussion, they gravitate so close to each other that there is barely any space between them. With each unrestrained movement - heir thighs brush, their shoulders jostle and their fingers graze to the point where their pinkies almost link.

There is a charged moment between them where they almost end up kissing mid-conversation, looking into each other’s eyes and leaning in closer and closer to connect their lips –

The sound of Jeno’s ring tone (“Boom” by NCT Dream) interrupts the moment.

Jeno quickly excuses himself to take the call, leaving Jaemin alone to stew in his thoughts. Jaemin can’t decide whether or not he’s relieved or disappointed by the distraction.

_Does he want to kiss Jeno?_

He scoffs at the question, he doesn’t even like Jeno, so why would he want to kiss him? But there is that niggling voice in the back of his mind that reminds him that he doesn’t need to _like_ Jeno to want to kiss him. As Jeno said before, they’re both attractive guys, it’s not that hard to fake interest.

Which brings up the next question… _Is he attracted to Jeno?_

The answer to that is yes, because regardless of Jaemin’s prior displeasure towards him, Lee Jeno is one handsome man. In that case, he’ll need to figure out a way to separate business from pleasure, but he knows that will be easier said than done. Especially since he’s almost sure that Jeno is just as attracted to him. With all this attraction, this is bound to get messy.

This may very well end up coming back to bite him in the ass.

Na Jaemin is way in over his head and he doesn’t even realize it yet.

Jeno returns a few minutes later, looking far more composed than how Jaemin feels. He’s sure that his cheeks are still pink. How the hell does Jeno manage to look so unbothered as if they weren’t about to kiss?

“So, just to confirm,” Jeno begins with a pause, “We’re dating but we’re not ‘official’ yet?”

“How can we claim to be official when it’s been barely a day since we supposedly hooked up?” Jaemin responds to his question with one of his own – adding a huff and an eye roll for extra measure.

“They may not believe our words, but they’d definitely believe the **undeniable** sexual chemistry between us,” Jeno shoots him a smirk and a wink after his comment.

“Excuse me,” Jaemin grits out whilst glaring at the elder male, “There is nothing remotely sexual between us!”

“Keep telling yourself that, princess,” that infuriating smirk is still present on Jeno’s lips and Jaemin wants to smack it off of his face.

It ticks Jaemin off every single time that Jeno calls him ‘princess’. He is not a ‘princess’; he is an independent man who needs no prince in his life to rescue him. He is far from being a mere damsel in distress and Lee Jeno is hardly a prince by his standards.

Though Jeno may not act like a prince, he sure as hell looks as if he could be one with how handsome he is. He could fit right in as one of the royalties if he dressed the part. He’s got a face and body that could rival that of a sculpture with how defined his features are.

_But if Jeno is a prince, does that now make Jaemin his princess?_

He banishes the thought from his mind and shakes his head as if it would clear away all these ridiculous thoughts. Jeno observes his actions with curiosity but doesn’t question it, instead he wisely decides to keep his mouth shut and continue on with their discussions. Jaemin tries his best to focus, but somehow, his mind always manages to stray.

Jeno leaves less than an hour later, mentioning that he’ll text Jaemin later. On the matter of texting - they agree that it’s time that they tell their friends about their relationship, but not that it’s fake. Jeno believes that it is something that should be kept only between the two of them – the less people that know, means that there is less of a chance for them to be exposed. Aside from that, it would be complicated to explain to their friends why they decided to go along with this ridiculous plan in the first place – then they’d really think that they’re insane for even agreeing to it.

Telling their friends about their fake relationship goes much differently than they imagined because for one, none of them actually opposed the union.

Renjun, whilst initially shocked that they got together and furious that he had to hear about it over social media, theorized that all the sexual tension between him and Jeno had to eventually manifest itself in some way eventually. He concluded that the real surprise was that they didn’t get together earlier. Jaemin could hardly believe his eyes when he saw that message. Was the sexual tension between them really that intense to the point where it was stifling for everybody else?

Sungchan and Yangyang were both supportive, but their reactions were on opposite ends of the spectrum. Sungchan was quite chill about it, he just wanted to ensure that Jeno took care of himself and knew what he was doing. Yangyang on the other hand, was downright excited – after he quickly got over his disappointment of not being the first one to find out. More than anything, he was just happy that Jeno found someone after how horribly his break up with Haechan went. But why was Yangyang so convinced that Jaemin was going to be Jeno’s one true love?

Even if this relationship wasn’t fake, why were their friends so sure that they were bound to work out in the end? They never liked each other in all their years of knowing each other, why would that suddenly change to the point where they fall in love with each other?

In addition to their friends questioning their relationship, there was also their family wondering what suddenly got into them – with Jaemin’s cousin Jisung and his brother Jaehyun, as well as Jeno’s brother Doyoung, trying to figure out what was going on. How can they explain anything to them when they barely can manage to explain it to themselves?

Their situation was… **Complicated.** It was bound to get even more complicated with the way things have been spiralling in the mere 24 hours since they decided on this preposterous plan.

On Monday, they decide to officially kick start their ‘(supposedly fool-proof) game plan’ that is their sham of a relationship.

Just thinking about it makes Jaemin cringe internally. Just what the hell had he been thinking when he agreed to this plan?

He took the rest of the weekend to mentally prepare himself for this day and he’s positive that he’s still not ready to go through with this. Jeno had repeatedly assured him that everything would be fine, but he’s not so convinced. Is this really a good idea?

There are _so_ many ways in which this could all go wrong and yet Jaemin - like the idiot he berates himself for being - still has not backed out of it. At this point, he’s in it for the long haul. It’s not too late to back out now and yet he’s still cooperating.

Jeno and Jaemin had exchanged schedules in order to coordinate the best times for them to meet up and thus, ‘show off’ their _blossoming_ new relationship. If they want to sell this, then they’ve got to act the part. They have to go about this step by step to make it believable – even if they seem like each other’s rebound and not the most compatible.

Since his Principles of Marketing class ends at noon and Jeno doesn’t have class until 2 P.M., the elder _oh so graciously_ decided that he would pick Jaemin up from his class. At first, Jaemin refused, arguing that he doesn’t need to go out of his way like this already, but Jeno reasoned that it was best if they started as early as possible. Well, in that case, he guesses the sooner they start this façade, the sooner they can end it too.

He tries his best to focus in class, but he can’t help but be distracted by the recent events that have transpired. The whole lesson goes over his head as his lecturer’s droning goes in through one ear and out the other. The two hours pass in a blur. It’s the ring of the bell that wakes him up out of his reverie.

Much to his detriment, they have an upcoming project about a topic that he is absolutely clueless about because he didn’t hear a word that was discussed. He rushes over to his lecturer in hopes that he will shed some light on the requirements. His lecturer is less than amused at being blocked from leaving, but since Jaemin is one of his better students, he takes pity on him and explains the project in more detail. Jaemin is grateful for the consideration because he knows that he can’t afford to fall behind in his classes for any reason. Unlike Jeno, Jaemin is not here on scholarship and he’s far from being a genius; he has to rely on his parents and his older brother Jaehyun to pay for his finances.

He bids his lecturer farewell and thanks him again for taking the time out to assist him. As soon as he steps out of his class, he spots the current thorn in his side and the main source of his distracted thoughts - aka Lee Jeno.

For someone who’s supposedly here to pick him up, he looks more like he happens to be here by chance. Jeno is leaning against the wall and idly scrolling through his phone – he’s dressed casually, just a plain white shirt, black cargo joggers and a snapback turned backwards to expose his forehead, but he still manages to look ridiculously good. He looks so much hotter when his hair is off of his forehead.

Why is he even thinking about Jeno being remotely hot?

Once again, Jaemin is reminded that yes, Jeno is actually attractive.

Jaemin walks until he is directly in front of him, fiddling with strap of his leather messenger bag absent-mindedly. His presence doesn’t go unnoticed for long. Jeno finally tears his attention away from his phone – smoothly sliding it into his pocket – and flashes Jaemin a lazy grin.

“Hello there, princess,” he greets, nodding in approval at the outfit Jaemin donned today – a oversized off the shoulder fuzzy pink sweater and faded distressed denim. Jaemin _may_ have wanted to look a little bit nicer today, so he _may_ have spent a little longer than usual choosing an outfit that was cute but comfortable – he didn’t want to give off the impression that he was trying too hard to impress anyone, let alone Jeno. Just because he doesn’t actually like the guy, doesn’t mean that he can’t put in a little effort either.

“Did you wait long?” he asks out of politeness, schooling his features into a somewhat apologetic expression.

“I got here about 10 minutes ago, but you clearly took your sweet time since everyone else left.” Jeno raises an eyebrow at him, almost challengingly.

_Is he looking for a fight or something?_

So much for Jaemin trying to be polite.

“I needed to verify something with my lecturer.” He grits out, annoyance already seeping into his tone, “Sue me for wanting to get some clarity for my assignment.”

“A bit of a teacher’s pet, aren’t you?” Jeno mocks with a smirk.

“Of course, you’d like to think so, wouldn’t you?” he snips and he can’t help but narrow his eyes at the comment. It ticks him off that Jeno acts like he knows him so well when he doesn’t know a damn thing about him.

“It wouldn’t be surprising, knowing how much you like to have people wrapped around your little finger,” the elder states, somewhat jokingly but Jaemin is already riled up anyways.

He opens his mouth, ready to give him a piece of him mind, only for his rebuttal to die on his tongue – his attention no longer on the man before him, but on someone else.

Jaemin barely processes the next few words that Jeno says because his attention is stolen by a familiar head of sandy brown hair making his way through the crowd with his arm attached to another annoyingly familiar head of ginger blond hair.

_Fuck his life._

Mark and Donghyuck are walking down the corridor in their direction.

He can’t believe his eyes. It’s just his luck, really. Why do they have to appear now?

Fortunately, they haven’t even noticed him and Jeno, because they’re too busy smiling at each other. Unfortunately, those two are the last two people he wants to see right now because he hasn’t even mentally prepared himself for this encounter – much less how he’s supposed to be feeling.

He starts internally panicking, even though they’ve discussed what to do if something like this happens. His mind is drawing a blank but he feels Jeno’s watchful eyes on him, since the elder has stopped talking to observe him. Speaking of Jeno, probably it was a blessing in disguise that he showed up today.

Without even second guessing himself, he grabs Jeno by the front of his shirt and crashes their lips together.

It’s sudden and a little more forceful than he intends for it to be, but Jeno quickly gets the message and gives in. He lets Jaemin take the lead – for all of a minute – before he takes over and slams Jaemin up against the nearest wall. When Jaemin gasps from the impact, he uses that as his cue to deepen the kiss.

Whilst Jaemin may have kissed Jeno because of Mark’s presence, Mark is the last thing on his mind when Jeno kisses him like this – hot and demanding.

He can feel himself melting into the kiss and going boneless in the elder’s arms. His bag slips from his arm and to the floor because his fingers are no longer clutching the straps but are instead tangled within the strands of Jeno’s hair. Tugging at the short dark hairs at the base of his head earns him a deliciously low groan and warm calloused hands tightening their grip on his waist.

When Jeno breaks the kiss at long last, all Jaemin can think about are his lips – unconsciously chasing after them when they part, receiving a smug chuckle in his ear that brings him back to his senses.

“I knew you wanted to kiss me,” Jeno whispers against his lips. He’s much too close and Jaemin can’t think straight when he’s right up in his face. He’s so close that his breath fans over Jaemin’s flushed cheeks and he can smell the cool scent of spearmint along with a hint of cinnamon – he can still taste it on his tongue too. He pulls away just enough to put about a foot of distance between them – but he can’t go very far with Jeno still holding on to him.

“I only kissed you because Mark was there.” He grumbles, his lips pursed into a petulant pout. Now that he’s free to look around he notices that Mark and Donghyuck are nowhere in sight, much to his relief. However, he does notice that they’ve garnered a bit of attention from some students – this is like Friday night all over again.

Jeno hums, his eyes crinkling in amusement, “If that’s what it takes for you to kiss me, I can’t imagine what you’d do if he came over to speak to us,”

Red tinges his cheeks in embarrassment as he remembers that there were other things he could have done instead of a kiss. They had gone over a list of alternatives before, kissing was right at the bottom of the list – only to be resorted to for extreme instances.

“Since I had to kiss your mouth, I need something to cleanse my palette.” He huffs as he rolls his eyes and crosses his arms over his chest. He could use some coffee right now.

“At least now you can say that your taste has improved, since you’ve gotten a taste of me.” Jeno quips and Jaemin knows that he’s teasing him now. Jaemin is also reminded that he can still taste Jeno on his lips.

“More like a downgrade, if you ask me,” he mutters under his breath, but with the snort her he receives in response, he’s sure that Jeno heard him loud and clear.

“Believe me, princess, you’ll want more than just a mere taste of me,” his tone is velvety smooth, the words sound like a wicked promise and it sends a ripple of heat through his system. He does not need to bite off more than he can chew when it comes to Lee Jeno. He bites his lip and takes a step back, not looking the other in the eye. He needs to learn how to get a hold of himself, even if there is a devilish voice in the back of his mind that tries to convince him about how tempting it would be to give in.

Jeno doesn’t question it, just bends to pick up his fallen bag and grasps him by the hand to tug him out of the corridor and out into the campus. Jaemin doesn’t even protest, he just lets Jeno guide him along.

They exchange only a few words on the way, enough to agree on what to eat and where to go. The silence between them is reminiscent of the one from that fateful night, it isn’t uncomfortable or awkward by any means, but they know that they need to talk.

They end up going to a trendy little café just a few blocks away from campus. Once they’ve placed their orders, paid and collected their drinks (a chai latte for Jeno and an americano with extra shots of expresso for Jaemin), they sit down in a booth tucked away in a quiet corner. The café is surprisingly not too crowded at the moment, even though it’s peak hour.

There’s a beat of silence between them once more, but it’s Jeno who clears his throat and breaks it.

“I’m not really sure about the best way to ask this, but do you want to talk about what happened back there?” he asks carefully.

The first thing that comes to Jaemin’s mind is the kiss. Are they really going to talk about **that**?

“W-what are you talking about?” he stutters.

“Why did you freak out at the sight of your ex?” his tone is gentle, there isn’t a hint of judgement in his eyes.

Jaemin should have expected this question. They should have had this conversation over the weekend, yet neither of them was willing to bring it up. Thinking about his relationship with Mark makes his heart ache.

“It’s…complicated,” is all he manages to utter.

Jeno snorts at that, “I doubt it’s any more complicated than my story,”

It isn’t a competition to determine whose past relationship was more complicated, but Jaemin can’t deny that he’s curious to hear about it. He wouldn’t mind listening to someone else’s story, maybe it would give him more insight on how his story ended like that.

“I’ll tell you my story if you tell me yours,” he proposes with a raise of his eyebrow and a tilt of his head. Jeno mulls over the offer for a few seconds before he’s nodding his head in agreement.

“Alright, deal,” he leans forward, bringing his elbows up to rest on the table and steeples his fingers, his undivided attention is now on Jaemin, “After you, princess.”

The blond takes a sip of his steaming hot coffee, just to quench his suddenly dry throat now that he’s been put on the spot. He isn’t sure how much he wants to say, but he figures that he can at least cover the basics of what went down.

The question is, how do you summarize 5 years of a relationship and even more years of friendship?

“Mark was my first everything – my first kiss, my first boyfriend and my first love because we’ve known each other almost all our lives. In my head, he was my first and last. I thought that we were so good for each other and that we were meant to be. You know, childhood friends to lovers? It sounded like the perfect love story to me. Eventually, maybe we’d move in together, get married and adopt some children together. I guess looking back, maybe I was way too optimistic about that.” He pauses to trace the rim of his mug, “I had noticed that he had grown a little distant, but figured that maybe he was just going through some things and that everything would work out in the end. It’s not like we ever had any major fights or anything like that. So, I didn’t want to dwell on it too much, but something was different. There was something missing there.”

He sighs, steeling his nerves as he pushes himself to continue.

“His touches weren’t the same, his kisses weren’t the same. He didn’t look at me the way he used to. I thought it was just a phase and that this was the time when he would need me more than ever. That’s why I tried to be a better boyfriend by showering him with more affection, I figured that giving him more love would make him love me more. I guess that wasn’t enough…Since he broke up with me and told me that he wasn’t in love with me anymore.”

Saying it out loud makes everything feel even more real, it’s a painful feeling. Recalling the memories still hurts his heart, even though there is a slight weight on his shoulders that is lifted. His eyes get a little teary and he feels choked up, but the last thing he wants to do now is start crying in front of Jeno in the middle of a café.

Instead of pity, Jeno pushes on and recounts his own story to give Jaemin the time to collect himself and shift his focus away from his failed relationship but on Jeno’s instead.

“With me and Haechan, well…I guess I should call him Donghyuck now, since that is his real name. He wasn’t my first everything like in your case, but he was my first serious relationship. I was never the biggest fan of relationships or dating in general, but something about Donghyuck made me want to try, for him. We were different, but we made it work. I’m an introvert and Donghyuck is an extrovert, we were your typical opposites attract story. When things were good, they were great…and when they were bad, they were horribly disastrous…” he chuckles, but there is no humour behind it – he has a faraway look in his eyes that makes Jaemin’s gut twist uncomfortably.

“We had a good run, but eventually things started to get strained and we were constantly getting into arguments about everything. At first it was just minor petty squabbles over little things but then it became more serious. We were both going through a lot of things in our lives, so there was a lot of tension and frustration that we ended up taking out on each other. I got really busy because I was working double shifts to earn more money on top of having more course work to do, he was falling behind in his course work, had back-to-back practices for a competition and was having family issues.” 

Jeno pauses, his brows furrowed in concentration as he mulls over his words. He clears his throat, relaxes his expression and soldiers on.

“Eventually, it all came to a head one night where I was in a bad mood and stressed from my workload whilst he was feeling sensitive from more family drama…We got into our worst argument yet. We blew up in each other’s faces. I don’t even remember half of what we said to each other, but I remember the pain I felt. Long story short, he complained that I never made time for him anymore and that I didn’t care about his feelings. I told him that I was already under enough pressure as is without having to deal with his issues and he was being too clingy – obviously, that response didn’t go over too well. There was a lot of screaming and crying. It was too much, so we decided to call it quits. Rather, Donghyuck called me an insensitive asshole and that he never wants to see me again because we’re over.”

He hadn’t expected Jeno’s story to turn out like this. “That’s intense,”

“That’s an understatement,” he leans back in his seat and casts his gaze towards the ceiling, “I’ve never experienced that kind of heartbreak before,”

“I know the feeling,” Jaemin muses softly.

“The bottom line here is that we both have some unresolved feelings for our exes, since that seems to be the main source of our frustrations.”

Jaemin can’t agree more. With the way things ended for both of them, there was bound to be a lot of pent-up emotions bubbling underneath the surface that they have yet to properly acknowledge.

“How do you feel about your ex?” Jeno asks him, peering at him curiously. Jaemin puffs his cheeks out at the question, it’s something he asks himself way too often these days.

“I still love him; I think a part of me will always love him. I think I freaked out because it hurts to see him with someone else when I want to be with him,”

“Ah, for me it’s a bit different,” Jeno explains, tapping his fingers on the table top, “You see, I don’t actually want to get back together with Donghyuck,”

That response takes Jaemin by surprise and he’s sure Jeno can see the look of shock on his face.

“I don’t understand, do you not love him anymore?”

“Don’t get me wrong. I love him, but I don’t want him back. I want to prove to him that I can be a good boyfriend, because he doesn’t think I’m capable of caring about anybody but myself.”

Jaemin has no idea what to say to that, so he says nothing and Jeno doesn’t prompt him to answer. The mood has taken a quiet, contemplative turn. They bask in the silence once again.

It’s a lot to take in. Both of them have completely different motives because their relationships ended on completely different notes. Jaemin’s relationship ended with a fizzle, whilst Jeno’s ended up in flames.

It’s ironic. He had wondered if he wasn’t a good enough boyfriend but apparently, so had Jeno. They had more in common than they gave themselves credit for.

Jaemin sips on his now lukewarm coffee absent-mindedly, he’s lost in thought and oblivious to the elder’s piercing gaze on him. Tired of the lull in the conversation, Jeno chooses to be a little impulsive.

Jeno reaches over to ruffle Jaemin’s blond hair, he squawks at the gesture and smacks his hand away. He did not spend 20 minutes carefully coiffing his hair in the mirror this morning only for his hard work to be ruined like this within seconds. He tries to smooth his hair back into place only for his wrists to be gently drawn away from his scalp.

“Calm down, princess, you look fine,” he says with a chuckle, “I just didn’t want to see you looking so down,”

The brunet carefully brushes the loose blond strands away from his forehead and tucks them behind his ears. With Jeno’s focus on his hair, his focus is on Jeno’s face – watching how attentive the elder is with fixing his hair. This moment feels more intimate than it should and Jaemin can hear his heart beating loudly in his ears. When Jeno lowers his hands after finishing his task, Jaemin feels like he can finally breathe again. Just when he thinks that Jeno will keep his hands to himself, the brunet once again defies his expectations and pinches his cheek.

“There, now you look so much better!” Jeno coos at him mockingly. Jaemin whines at him to stop being a jerk. Of course, Jeno finds that hilarious and laughs at him. Jaemin angrily pouts at him as he rubs his sore cheek.

An alarm dings on Jeno’s phone. The elder glances at the screen and straightens up at the notification. “Well princess, I’ve got to head to class. Try not to miss me too much!”

With a wave and a wink, Jeno strolls out the door – once again leaving Jaemin to stew in his thoughts. There is something about Lee Jeno that he can’t quite put his finger on, but his curiosity is undoubtedly peaked.

Lee Jeno is an enigma.

Why is it that every time they meet, he is left questioning their interactions after he is gone?

There is a flurry of movement in front of him, causing him to look up to see someone sitting down to occupy the seat that Jeno just vacated mere minutes ago. He is both terrified and impressed by the timing of his latest companion.

“So, when exactly do you plan to introduce me to your new _beau_?” asks Renjun with a raised eyebrow. Curse Renjun for bringing this up now. Jaemin wants the ground to swallow him up as he bemoans his misfortune.

It was one thing to tell their friends that they were dating over text, but it was another matter altogether to introduce each other to their friends in person. Their friends weren’t like the rest of the student body, their friends actually knew them – so they’d have to make sure that their friends actually bought this charade or else they’d be screwed.

It hasn’t even been a day but this plan has already been giving him one hell of a headache. What the hell did he even do in his past life to deserve this kind of stress?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading! Kindly leave a review and let me know what you think or give a kudos! Feel free to follow me on twitter @starofaeries and come chat with me on curiouscat. Until the next chapter, take care!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeno laughs, “Don’t worry your pretty little head about it. Just trust me.”
> 
> “I feel like trusting you is going to end up biting me in the ass one day,” Jaemin mutters, his lips pursing into a pout at the thought.
> 
> “I can bite you on the ass, if you’re into that kind of thing,” Jaemin can just imagine the smirk on Jeno’s face as he says this.
> 
> What is with Jeno and his flirting at the most inopportune times?!
> 
> “I’d rather you not!” he hisses, his cheeks darkening from either being furious or flustered.
> 
> “That’s unfortunate,” Jeno muses contemplatively, “Because we may very well end up doing just that,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't too sure how long I wanted this chapter to be, but I figured that I ended it at a suitable place. The next chapter will be the end of week one of their fake relationship! So the ball will really get rolling in the future updates as they try to navigate fake dating and their growing feelings for each other. The sexual tension is getting more intense! 🥵
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter! 🥰

Jaemin wonders to himself, how the hell does he break the news to Jeno that Renjun wants to meet him? Should he call him about it or should he text? What is the best method of communication for something like this?

Sure, they had anticipated that their friends would want to meet them at some point, but neither of them had planned for an introduction to happen this soon. This was literally 2 days after their rumoured hook-up, it hasn’t even been a week. They’ve barely even worked out exactly what they would say when they officially met up with their friends.

Before he can second guess himself, he pulls up Jeno’s contact and dials his number. As soon as the call connects, he doesn’t even greet the elder with a hello, he just gets straight to the point:

“We have a situation on our hands,” he states without preamble.

There is a brief pause.

“Who is this ‘we’ you speak of?” Jeno inquires tiredly. Jaemin can’t tell if he’s tired from whatever he was doing before the call or if he’s tired because Jaemin is the one calling him.

“Seeing as **we** are the ones dating each other, then I’d say it’s you and me,” he snarks right back at him.

He hears the elder sigh in annoyance. Yes, he’s definitely annoyed with Jaemin. Maybe this was a bad time.

“Okay princess, what’s the situation?”

“Renjun wants to meet you,” he answers plainly.

“Who’s Renjun?” Jeno asks.

_Is he being serious here? This isn’t the time for jokes. How could he not know who Renjun is?_

“Renjun is my best friend,” Jaemin explains, “You can’t possibly tell me that you’ve never seen or heard of him before!”

“Ah, is that the tiny guy you always hang out with who looks like he’s shouldering the weight of the world?” Jeno answers, a hint of recognition colouring his tone.

_Well, there are more accurate descriptions out there to describe Huang Renjun, but this one also works._

“Uh, well…That’s one way to describe him,” Jaemin agrees, “Just don’t let him hear you say that because he will kick your ass,”

Jeno snorts, highly unamused.

“He’d have to be able to reach to my level first to be able to kick my ass,” Jeno deadpans.

“Don’t underestimate him,” Jaemin warns.

“Forget that,” Jeno brushes the comment off and moves on to the more pressing issue, “Why the hell does he want to meet me now, anyways? We’ve barely even started dating,”

Jeno is well within his rights to question why Renjun would be so eager to meet him so soon.

Technically, they’re in the ‘taking it slow’ phase so their relationship – as fake as it is – isn’t that serious, yet. However, that doesn’t matter much in the grand scale of things because they do plan to work their way up to that level eventually.

For them to actually make their exes jealous, there has to be a relationship for them to actually be jealous of in the first place. If they kept things casual, then no one would ever take them seriously.

“I guess this is just his way of being his usually protective self and making sure that the guy who I’m seeing is worth the effort.”

“If that’s the case, then I shudder to think what he will do to you once he finds out that we were never dating in the first place,”

Just thinking about that makes Jaemin wince. Renjun would be absolutely furious if he ever found out. He’d kick Jaemin’s ass then kick Jeno’s ass.

“I would rather not think about that right now,” Jaemin grumbles, “Besides, if I’m going down, then I’m dragging you down with me,”

“The only way that I’m going down, is if you’re going down on me,” Jeno’s voice drops to a low purr as he states this, a total 180 from his previous tone.

It catches Jaemin completely off-guard to the point where it has Jaemin sputtering.

“C-can you stop thinking with your dick for once?! This is serious!” Jaemin stutters out, already much too flustered for this turn in conversation.

Jeno chuckles in amusement, it’s the first time that he’s genuinely laughed in this whole phone call. It’s nice to hear him laugh about something, even if it is to Jaemin’s detriment.

“Fine, when does he want us to meet?” his tone is back to business, as if he wasn’t flirting mere seconds ago or laughing at his embarrassed state.

“Tomorrow?” Jaemin answers, his response sounding more like a question than an actual answer. Knowing Renjun, he would want to get things done as quickly as possible.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me!” the brunet groans, obviously displeased with that response.

“I wish I was,” the blond mumbles apologetically. If it was up to him, he’d never want this meeting to happen.

“Tomorrow won’t work, it’s way too soon,” Jeno reasons calmly, “Make it Friday and then we can work something out,”

“Why Friday?”

“Because it gives us just enough time to really sell this plan,”

“What exactly do you have planned?” Jaemin questions worriedly, “I’m almost afraid to find out,”

Jeno laughs, “Don’t worry your pretty little head about it. Just trust me.”

“I feel like trusting you is going to end up biting me in the ass one day,” Jaemin mutters, his lips pursing into a pout at the thought.

“I can bite you on the ass, if you’re into that kind of thing,” Jaemin can just imagine the smirk on Jeno’s face as he says this.

_What is with Jeno and his flirting at the most inopportune times?!_

“I’d rather you not!” he hisses, his cheeks darkening from either being furious or flustered.

“That’s unfortunate,” Jeno muses contemplatively, “Because we may very well end up doing just that,”

“Excuse me?” Jaemin screeches, “Come again?!”

“Na Jaemin,” Jeno’s tone is stern as he calls his full name, “All jokes aside, I’m serious about you needing to trust me for this plan to work,”

Jeno speaks to him as if he is speaking to a student, “We need to know what each other’s boundaries are and trust that neither of us crosses the line,”

When Jeno puts it that way, he does have a point. Trust is important for this to work. They have to know where they stand with each other so that they can avoid any mishaps and misunderstandings. They have to be on the same page here or else things will get out of hand before they can even get a handle on anything.

“I understand,” Jaemin agrees, nodding to himself even though he knows that Jeno can’t see him.

“So, I’ll ask you this straight up,” there is a note in his voice that has Jaemin straightening up and listening attentively to his next few words, “Na Jaemin, do you trust me?”

_Does Jaemin trust Jeno?_

The question makes him pause in his thoughts.

About a week ago, he’d have scoffed at the question because he would have had absolutely no reason to think about trusting Jeno in the first place – much less think of Lee Jeno as anything but a nuisance in his life. Now, so many things have changed because trusting Jeno has become just one of the many things that he has to consider. His trust in Jeno will determine how the next few weeks of his life will turn out.

It is safe to say that Lee Jeno is disrupting the flow of his life.

Before, he used to be a mild disturbance that he had to deal with every once in a while, but now, he’s a constant force to be reckoned with. He’s somehow gone from the back of his mind to the forefront of his thoughts. This kind of development is incomprehensible to Jaemin and yet, he can’t help but wonder...

_How could he not have seen this coming?_

He clearly hadn’t thought things through as well as he thought he did when he agreed to this plan, because once again for the umpteenth time, he’s questioning his decision. He seems to be questioning a lot of things lately – mainly anything that has to do with Jeno.

He naively thought that this plan was going to be simple and straightforward, but of course, it’s more complicated than he hoped it would be. There were so many factors that he failed to consider in the grand scheme of things. Even though he and Jeno had discussed their game plan beforehand, he’s come to realize that they left out some glaringly important details – which they probably should have thought about when they first decided to team up. Namely, just how far were they willing to go to make this plan work?

Jeno said that they need to trust each other and as much as Jaemin wants to believe otherwise, the elder is right. They will have to trust each other if they hope to see this through to the end. Now that they’ve opened up about their pasts and their motivations, it seems like them seeing eye to eye isn’t as farfetched as he once thought it to be.

In fact, they had more in common than he would have believed previously. He and Jeno shared some similarities that may never have noticed if they didn’t agree to this partnership together. It’s quite the eye opener to find out that you and your rival aren’t so different after all. Granted, they still get on each other’s nerves more often than not, but the animosity behind it isn’t there anymore.

Which brings him back to the question at hand - _does he trust Jeno?_

Judging from their interactions so far, the truth is that Jeno hasn’t actually given Jaemin much of a reason to not trust him. Snide remarks aside, Jeno has been quite civil with him and has gone out of his way to do things that Jaemin hadn’t asked for. If anything, that proves that Jeno is a decent person. He’s been very patient with Jaemin so far just so that they could become more accustomed to each other. He’s been on his best behaviour, all things considered – and that’s more than Jaemin could have hoped for.

Jeno can be trustworthy. He knows this, he’s seen this.

Okay, so maybe Jeno **is** trustworthy.

Maybe he’s finally found the answer that he’s been looking for. Maybe he never had to look for the answer in the first place. Maybe he knew all along what his answer was.

Maybe Jaemin does trust Jeno after all.

They agree to meet up later in the evening, to have yet another discussion. They’d already seen each other mere hours before, but this was a conversation that was better to have in person than over the phone. If they were going to do this, then they were going to do this right. It was best to be as professional about this as possible.

Strangely enough, Jaemin feels nervous and he can’t pinpoint exactly why. It’s just Jeno, what is there for him to feel nervous about? Even though they’ve been getting along better – considering the _questionable_ circumstances – it’s not as if they _like_ each other or something. It’d be ironic if they actually end up dating each other for real after this whole fiasco is over. Jaemin snorts at the ludicrous thought.

Him and Jeno dating? _Yeah, right._

Surely him and Jeno couldn’t be _that_ compatible together. But then again, what if they are?

He shakes his head to dispel those thoughts, he doesn’t need to be thinking about Jeno in that way. This isn’t a 50k, slow burn, ‘enemies to lovers’ AU where they realize that their relationships with their exes pales in comparison to their blossoming relationship with each other as they eventually fall in love. That kind of plot sounds like the work of fanfiction.

It’s such a silly fantasy. Absolutely nothing to get worked up over…and yet, he can’t stop thinking about it. He shouldn’t even be entertaining the thought. He shouldn’t be going down that kind of road already. Him and Jeno getting together is not a part of the cards.

The knock on the door breaks him out of his ‘fantasy’ and he rushes over to answer it to be greeted by the sight of Lee Jeno looking much different that he had earlier - hair slightly damp and slicked back, dressed in a fitted white tank top and red basketball shorts riding low on his hips. The tank top shows off his broad chest, bulging biceps and all the ridges of his abdomen. Jaemin can’t help but get a little side-tracked by the sight. Jeno has got some impressive muscles on him, that’s for sure.

Once again, Jaemin has to begrudgingly accept the fact that Lee Jeno is a ridiculously attractive young man.

“I headed right over here after boxing practice,” Jeno says in lieu of a greeting, “Sorry if I don’t look as presentable as usual, I didn’t have time to go home and change into my regular clothes.”

“It’s cool. It’s not that big of a deal,” Jaemin replies breathlessly, because finding out that Jeno not only boxes but looks like **this** after practice seems to make his brain malfunction and he can’t have that happening.

Yet he wonders just how strong Jeno is when his arms look like **that**. Why the hell does he have to look so fucking hot? Damn it! He can’t stand the sight of him right now because it is way too fucking distracting. He refuses to drool over how hot Jeno is! He can’t let Jeno catch him slipping! He can’t show his weakness like this!

Jeno is now seated in his sofa, legs spread apart and arms stretched over the backrest of the sofa. He’s certainly made himself look right at home already…and his lap looks like the perfect place for Jaemin to make himself at home as well.

_No, Jaemin! This is not the time to get thirsty!_

He clears his throat and closes his eyes, just to try and get his mind focused again. Jeno is here for a reason and that reason is not to make him think indecent thoughts but to discuss how they will progress with their fake relationship. This is not the time to veer off track. He’s got to stay in his lane – and away from Jeno.

He decides to take control of the situation by getting down to business. There is no time to waste, so they might as well get this over with. The sooner they start this discussion, the sooner that he can get Jeno to leave.

“Okay, so what exactly do you want us to discuss first?” he asks, folding his arms across his chest. He opts out of sitting next to Jeno on the sofa, choosing to stand instead. Putting a little distance between them seems like a good idea.

“For this to be a bit more realistic, we’ll need to be more affectionate with each other,” he states plainly, like it’s just a matter of fact.

“That’s going to be kind of difficult,” Jaemin retorts. He can’t picture them being more affectionate than what they’ve been attempting so far.

Jeno snorts at him response and shakes his head as if he just said something ridiculous.

“We’ve already made out twice and held hands, yet **you** think it’ll _somehow_ be difficult for us to fake being affectionate with each other?” he asks with a raise of his brow, effectively calling him out on his bullshit.

Alright, so when Jeno puts it like that, it doesn’t sound as difficult as he’s making it out to be. Jaemin feels like he just got attacked.

“We haven’t had the best track record. Wouldn’t it be normal for it to be awkward at least, since we are faking this?”

Instead of answering Jaemin’s question directly, Jeno decides to try another approach by asking a question of his own.

“What are you going to do if I am affectionate with you?” he questions as if he’s challenging Jaemin.

He gets ups from the sofa and strides over to where Jaemin is standing, looking him straight in the eyes as he approaches him.

“If I touch you like this…” he reaches for the blond’s tiny tapered waist with both hands and tugs him closer so that they’re standing chest to chest, “Are you going to push me away?” 

The unexpected proximity makes Jaemin gulp, his throat feeling inexplicably dry.

“If I lean in like this,” he draws in nearer so that their faces are mere millimetres apart and their lips can almost brush, “Are you going to turn away?”

With Jeno right in his space like this, it’s hard for him to focus, much less breathe – especially when their breaths mingle together. The heady aroma of Jeno’s cologne and the minty scent on his breath has him feeling light headed. It’s like Jeno is taking over his senses.

He brings his hands up to splay against the brunet’s chest, as an automatic reaction to push him away but instead he is left marvelling at how firm it is. He can feel Jeno’s heart beating just beneath his palms. He wonders if it’s just as fast as his own heartbeat.

_Can Jeno hear how loud his heart is beating right now?_

A few more beats pass before Jaemin remembers that he still hasn’t answered Jeno’s question. Even though they’ve been standing like this for a few minutes, neither of them has made any attempt to move. They’ve just been in each other’s space as if they’re taking in their presence.

If this is how much more affectionate they’re going to be, then Jaemin can’t say that he’s going to be opposed to it. There is a certain kind of appeal to being with Jeno like this.

“I guess we can make it work,” he whispers weakly, unable to look Jeno in the eyes as he says it.

Jeno smirks at him.

“Then it shouldn’t be a problem,” Jeno backs away from him and releases him from his grip - now he can finally breathe again, “Because like it or not, we’ve gotten comfortable being around each other…Unless you’re not comfortable with me and I’m reading the signals wrong?”

He mentally panics over what kind of signals he’s been sending to Jeno because he would be mortified if he was too obvious about his thirst. Yet at the same time, he doesn’t want to give Jeno the impression that he wants absolutely nothing to do with him.

“Well, I’m not uncomfortable with you if that’s what you’re asking,” he mutters petulantly, still feeling mildly abashed.

“You know very well what I’m asking you, Jaemin,” Jeno deadpans with a roll of his eyes, “Remember we **need** to trust each other, that involves honesty too.”

“Yes, I remember,” he mumbles in agreement, “Respecting each other’s boundaries, letting each other know how we really feel and all that jazz,”

“Speaking of boundaries, that’s the next thing we need to discuss,” Jeno’s eyes darken and his voice drops, “Just how far are you willing to let me go with you, Na Jaemin?”

One thing that Jaemin has realized when he’s in such close proximity to Lee Jeno, it’s that the man can be very intense. So intense that it can be overwhelming, it takes over his senses. Jaemin isn’t sure if he can handle it, but he is so very tempted to try.

_Just how far would he like to go with Lee Jeno?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to note, the differences between this chapter and the twitter version was that I changed the text conversation between nomin in the beginning into a phone conversation and I added more narrations in areas where I felt there could be more substance. Instead of keeping nomin's conversation as a text, I figured that the phone call would allow me to showcase their personalities more and add more depth to the story. I wanted to really bring out the mix in emotions here. I could have summarized it but I think this worked out better. Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with how this chapter turned out! Let me know your thoughts! 🥺
> 
> If you'd like, come follow me on twitter @starofaeries! 🤩


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Aren’t you going to make some ridiculous rule about how we shouldn’t fall in love with each other or something like that?”
> 
> Jaemin can’t believe the words that are coming out of Jeno’s mouth. Is this the twilight zone or some alternate reality? This can’t be real life.
> 
> “Why do we even need to make a rule like that in the first place?” Jeno asks with a raise of his eyebrows, “You’re making it sound as if it’s a bad thing if we did somehow end up liking each other.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter can actually be seen as a bit of the turning point for nomin's relationship as you can see in the snippet shown in the chapter summary 😅 They're going to start letting their guard down and allowing themselves to feel emotions that they never reallly would have imagined that they'd feel for each other. I also wanted to show the difference in perspectives between Jeno and Jaemin, so we can see what they really think of each other - there is a lot of internal conflict because they're still trying to figure out what exactly they're feeling. We're going to be approaching soft hours territory before we jump into the rough hours 🤭 I hope you enjoy the chapter! 😉

On the days leading up to Friday, they find themselves falling into a routine of sorts because they need to familiarize themselves with each other as quickly and painlessly as possible. If they are going to make this plan work then they have to spend time together – specifically in areas where they know that they’re bound to grab some attention. So of course, they schedule their interactions down to a tee. Timing is key.

They walk to and from their classes together, they have lunch near campus, they study in the library and they go home together. They make sure to be seen together by enough people so that word of their relationship can spread even faster. 

Of course, with all this time spent together, they begrudgingly end up talking a lot and learn more about each other’s quirks – not just to prove to others that they’re in a relationship, but because they’re finally starting to see past their past prejudices – or really just tolerate each other overall. When they’re not bickering with each other (which is still more often than not), they manage to get along quite swimmingly, surprisingly. 

The affection feels almost a little too natural at times, even though it’s something that they make a conscious effort to maintain – but on a few rare occasions, it is something that happens unconsciously.

The progression of their relationship – albeit, their **fake** relationship - seems strangely smooth for two people that never used to like each other in the first place. Sure, there is a certain level awkwardness because they’re still trying to figure out how to behave around each other and what they really think of each other after all this time, but they manage to get around that. It’s progress in every sense of the word.

Simple gestures like walking while holding hands, a kiss or two every so often and a hug when they part were all agreed on to be part of the plan…and yet, it doesn’t feel as forced as they thought it would when they have to ‘act’. Sometimes, the acting doesn’t even seem like acting at all – especially when they forget that they were acting in the first place.

There is something brewing between them and it is something they never anticipated because **that** was not part of the plan. There weren’t supposed to be real feelings involved in a fake relationship.

It was supposed to be simple; but of course, things were never simple when it came to Jaemin and Jeno. This was going to make things more complicated. The last thing either of them needs right now if for this to get even more complicated than it already is.

If there’s one thing to note about Lee Jeno, it’s that he’s not the type of guy to be impulsive – it just wasn’t in his nature. He prides himself on being level-headed and keeping his cool. He thinks first, acts later. He likes to be practical. He always tries to make sure that he weighs all the pros and cons before making his more serious decisions – always taking into consideration the consequences of his actions.

All of that went straight out the fucking window when he decided to concoct this whole plan out of thin air due to his sudden streak of impulsiveness. Now he’s gotten himself into quite the dilemma.

He’s still not sure what the hell possessed him to even come up with this plan in the first place, much less put it into action and continue the momentum. What he **is** sure about is that there was something about Na Jaemin on that night that sent his thoughts buzzing with his mouth working faster than his brain and the next thing he knows is that he’s blurting out this ridiculously half-assed plan before he can stop himself. Though looking back, he’s not sure if he would have stopped himself if he could.

He’ll admit, that this plan isn’t one of his brightest plans - it’s a little juvenile and kind of random, but it’s also devious enough to work. If him and Jaemin play their cards right, they can definitely pull it off. There are a lot of variables involved that may make things a bit difficult, but they can deal with those obstacles when they encounter them. They’re still planning as they go along. It’s a work in progress, subject to changes as time goes on.

The plan hasn’t even come anywhere close to fruition yet, so he can still back out without facing too much collateral damage - but there is an incessant thought in the back of his mind that keeps niggling at him to stick it out and see this through. He’s not sure why, but he knows that this will work out even if he’s not sure exactly how yet. He has faith that something will come out of this.

Over the years, he’s learned to trust his gut over his brain in certain key moments and that moment when he approached Jaemin was one of them. He won’t let himself regret his decision just yet, even if his decision was to proposition Jaemin to make their exes jealous.

Na Jaemin has never been his favourite person, nor has he ever been someone that he thought particularly highly of. Quite frankly, Jeno thinks that he’s a bit of a brat with his tendency to want things to go his way and a tad bit dramatic at times. He also looks like the high maintenance type and that is pretty much why he’ll always be a ‘princess’ to Jeno. However, whilst Jeno may never have liked Jaemin in the past, he can’t say that he’s ever hated him. It’s not as like Jeno is the kind of person to hate people in the first place, even if Jaemin can be annoying and petty.

Even after going to school together their whole lives, they never ever seemed to hit it off. In life, there was always going to be at least one person that you weren’t going to get along with no matter what happened – Jaemin and Jeno could definitely relate to that.

However, this past week has not been as challenging as he anticipated it to be. In fact, they’re getting along much better than he would have expected them to. Sure, they still have their share of difficulties, but they also have more similarities than they would have imagined initially. It’s certainly not the worst experience, but it’s nowhere near the best. At the end of the day, it is pretty much a ‘situationship’ that was created as a means to an end. They may have had similar motivations but they have different goals that they want to achieve at the end of all this – Jaemin wants Mark back, whilst Jeno just wants to get back at Donghyuck.

Speaking of Donghyuck, Jeno knows that he would always have the title of his first true love and his first serious relationship, even if their relationship was rocky more often than not. What they had was real, it was special, it was precious. It hurts that it never worked out between them in the end. If they had stayed together longer than they had, then they may have ended up resenting each other eventually – maybe they had already started to resent each other before they broke up. They were not on the same wavelength mentally and it was clear that they weren’t able to provide the kind of support that they needed from each other. They were not able to be the person that the other wanted them to be – or rather, they were never right for each other to begin with. Too many things went wrong for them to try to fix and trying to fix them would only delay the inevitable. A relationship like theirs wasn’t meant to stand the test of time.

A part of Jeno will always love Donghyuck and always wonder if it was still possible for them to be together after all of this, but another part of him knows that they were probably never meant to be. Sometimes, love is not enough to make a relationship last. Sometimes, no matter what you do, it will never be enough.

The perfect guy for Jeno is out there somewhere. For all he knows, that guy can be much closer than he thinks. He may have even passed by him without even realizing. You never know what fate may have in store for you, because fate is tricky like that.

Jeno will trust that he'll find the one eventually, he isn't one to fight fate. Whatever happens in life is what is meant to happen. 

When Friday finally rolls around at long last, Jeno is more than certain that he and Jaemin can pull this off – winning Renjun over and getting him approval should be a piece of cake. Plus, if they can handle Renjun, then they can totally take on Jeno’s friends because Sungchan and Yangyang are pretty easy to please - Yangyang more so than Sungchan because he’s way too easy, Sungchan not so much.

Granted, Jeno has never actually had a proper conversation with Renjun, but from what Jaemin has insistently lectured him about so far, he thinks he has a general understanding of his character. But on the other hand, there is usually more than meets the eye and he could be getting ahead of himself here – it wouldn’t be the first time by any chance.

Renjun is a very perceptive individual - he’s as sharp as a knife and his jabs are even sharper. However, he’s also very soft-hearted, sentimental and a sucker for romance. Case in point: the cringey yet cute tale of how Wong Yukhei somehow managed to woo Huang Renjun and not only convince him to finally give him the time of day but to actually agree to be his boyfriend. That was a feat within itself because whilst Renjun has **very** high standards, he also really appreciates the small sweet sincere gestures that come from the heart. Having Yukhei try to court him every day for about two months was more than enough time for Renjun to accept that maybe this guy actually was serious about him and deserved the opportunity to prove himself.

All in all, Renjun seems like a pretty fascinating character and he must be very important to Jaemin if the blond can be so fussy about everything going right. He never would have pegged Jaemin for such a worrywart before, but that’s just another thing that he’s learning about the blond.

Whilst Jeno just wants to get this meeting over and done with, Jaemin seems hesitant to even get this meeting going. Even if this whole relationship may be fake, Jaemin still wants them to make a good impression on Renjun - he wants this to go off without a hitch. Jeno wasn’t initially worried, but Jaemin’s worry is so palpable that it has him wondering if maybe he should be at least a little worried.

_Should he be making more of an effort?_

He reaches out to take Jaemin’s hand in his, the blond startles at the sudden gesture, but settles down from his fidgeting as Jeno guides them along to the cafe. They don’t say much between them, but they’ve learned to take comfort in their silences, there is nothing more that they need to say now. What they need to do is focus on this upcoming trial.

If Jeno’s deductions are accurate, then the best way to show Renjun how serious they are about each other is not to be ridiculously lovey-dovey and sickeningly cliché, but to focus on _the little things_. With how things have been progressing between them so far, this shouldn’t be difficult for them to manage. Neither of them is particularly sappy anyways, so suddenly going ‘goo-goo gaga’ for each other literally two weeks after breaking up with the _supposed_ loves of their lives would make their relationship look even faker than it already is. They don’t need to make themselves look like lovesick fools this early in the game. Jeno internally cringes at the thought of him ever getting to _that_ kind of sappy state with Jaemin of all people.

When they arrive, they immediately spot Renjun, who is already seated and waiting at a table for three, sipping on a cup of tea as he reads a book.

Ever the gentleman, Jeno pulls out the seat for Jaemin before he takes a seat for himself and Renjun hums in approval. Jaemin flashes him a smile in gratitude and leans other to give him a peck on the cheek, which in turn makes him smile. That kiss is definitely impromptu, since Jaemin is usually shyer with initiating affection like that – but Jeno doesn’t mind him taking the initiative. Little gestures like this are just the right touch. The timing couldn’t have been any more perfect too, especially with how Renjun coos at them fondly.

“Ah, so you do have manners! How charming!” Renjun remarks with a smirk, “I can see how that would appeal to Jaemin because he adores a man who still knows how to be chivalrous in this day and age,”

The blond squawks at the comment, embarrassed at being exposed for being such an old fashioned romantic.

_So, he likes the gentlemanly type of guy, huh?_

Now that Jeno knows about this, it seems kind of obvious that Jaemin would be attracted to that. Jeno thinks that’s adorable and he’s most certainly going to tease the blond about it later.

“Hello Renjun, it’s nice to meet you too,” Jeno greets amiably. He’s here to make a good impression and that’s what he’ll do, “Jaemin has told me a lot about you. I’m grateful that he has such a remarkable friend as yourself in his life.” Best believe that he’s going to resort to flattery if he has to – he knows how to be very charming when the situation arises.

“I must say, I’ve heard quite a bit about you myself, especially considering your **colourful** history together.”

Both Jaemin and Jeno share a grimace at that comment. Bringing up their background is always bound to be the elephant in the room and there is no getting around that. It’s the main thing reason why the odds may not be in their favour with this whole plan in the first place.

“What can I say? Our past was not the best, but we’re hoping that our future together will be much better,” Jeno swoops in smoothly. Jaemin slumps over and lets out a sigh in relief at the save, but straightens his shoulder mere seconds later.

“ **And** , we’d _really_ appreciate it if you gave us your blessings because I’m your best friend who love and adore,” Jaemin pipes in to add, “So as **my** best friend, I expect you to be supportive.”

Renjun doesn’t say anything to that immediately. He sips his tea calmly whilst observing the both of them. It feels reminiscent of being inspected under a microscope with how Renjun’s gaze seems to pierce through them.

Jeno _almost_ has the urge to flee, but he steels his resolve – this is not the time to back down. Plus, he would rather not let Renjun know that he had that much power over his actions. Lee Jeno is no wuss and he will stand his ground.

There is a pressure on his thigh that has him jolting out of his mild panic and has him turning his head to look at the blond man beside him. Jaemin doesn’t look nervous at first glance, but the vice grip he has on his leg claims otherwise.

Jeno tries to remove the hand from his thigh as discreetly as possible, but instead Jaemin changes targets and clings on to his hand instead. If Jaemin wants to find something to hold on to so badly, then he should make use of his skills on one particularly ‘hard’ organ below Jeno’s waist instead of trying to cut off the circulation in his hand. Jeno has to will that last thought away quickly, because he’d rather not pop a boner in the middle of a café at this time of day – especially when he’s seated across from Jaemin’s best friend. The last thing he needs for Renjun to think about him is that he’s some sort of horn dog who can’t keep his dick in his pants.

“I’ll admit, I’m still taken aback at this development between you too,” Renjun finally breaks his silence and gazes at them with a contemplative look upon his face, “But, I also believe that you may very well be what the other person needs right now.”

Jeno hadn’t banked on Renjun saying that, but he can’t help but be curious as to why the elder believes so. Can he be implying that he and Jaemin may be better suited than they realize, despite their background? Can they be the right person to help each other heal considering their circumstances? Can they actually make this work?

It may have been short sighted of him to not consider the possibility that they can very well have an actual genuine relationship – whether platonic or even romantic – after this plan has run its course.

_Should he have taken this into consideration? Does he even want to consider it? Could he and Jaemin be something more?_

Jaemin and Donghyuck are very different individuals. As a result, certain issues that Jeno would have with one, he wouldn’t have with the other.

Donghyuck was his first love, he’s still in love with him even after the break up and he thinks about him all the time. He doesn’t permeate his thoughts as much as he used to when they were still together, but he’s always in the back of his subconscious.

Jaemin is someone he never ever thought about loving, the concept seemed so farfetched.

_The two of them falling in love with each other, for real? That sounds like a fantasy._

Yet, it’s Jaemin who has been on his mind these days, more so than Donghyuck. He finds himself wondering about Jaemin at times, even when he least expects it.

Now he wonders if Jaemin has something about him that Donghyuck never had.

_What makes Jaemin so different from Donghyuck? Is Jaemin a better match for him than Donghyuck?_

“You think we’re good for each other?” Jeno asks, a hint of scepticism in his tone.

Renjun shrugs non-committedly.

“I think once you get past the animosity, you’re pretty well matched.”

Animosity aside, they do get along well enough. Maybe there may be some merit to what he’s saying. There could very well be something there brewing beneath the surface.

“So, you’re okay with this?” Jaemin asks just to be sure, “With us, that is?”

Renjun rolls his eyes. “Trust me, if I wasn’t then you’d definitely know,”

Jaemin squeals in excitement and in his excitement, he accidentally knocks over his glass of water and spills it on his shirt. Jeno catches the glass before it rolls off the table and Jaemin immediately grabs some napkins to dab at the dampened area. Renjun offers them tissues from his bag. Jeno tries to help him by getting some more napkins to sap up the moisture, but it’s clear that it’ll take more than a napkin to get it to dry.

“Damn it! Ugh, lemme see if I can use the air dryer to try and fix this,” Jaemin excuses himself to go the bathroom whilst wringing the end of his shirt out.

Once the blond is out of earshot, Renjun narrows his eyes at Jeno and he can feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

Renjun may be on the shorter side of the height spectrum (especially in comparison to his towering hulk of a boyfriend), but that doesn’t prevent him from having an intimidating aura even with his deceivingly innocent image and cute features.

“I’m not sure what exactly is going on between you two, but I know that there is something undeniably off about all of this,” Renjun states coolly whilst looking him dead in the eye, his tone brokering no room for denial, “The timing of this is much too suspicious for me to not question the situation,”

_Well, shit._

_Renjun really is sharp._

Jaemin was right about Renjun being really perceptive. He must have a sixth fucking sense with the way he was able to pick up on that so quickly. Jeno is momentarily stumped over how to respond, but the elder doesn’t even give him the chance to answer before he’s soldiering on.

“I won’t push you for answers because I’m sure both of you have your reasons - as questionable as those reasons probably are - but just know that if you ever hurt him, then you have absolutely no idea what I am capable to doing to you.”

If Jeno hadn’t thought that Renjun was already intimidating before, then he sure as hell thinks that he’s intimidating now. That was not a threat to be taken lightly with the look that was being sent his way.

“Duly noted, thank you for being understanding.”

“Good, glad we could come to an understanding,” Renjun nods firmly, satisfied with his acquiescence, “Now, before I forget –“

It happens so quickly that Jeno doesn’t even realize what happened until he’s bent over and reeling from the sudden shock of pain to his shin.

“Ow! What the fuck?!” Jeno yells with a wince, nursing the soon to be bruised area after that out of the blue assault, “Why would you do that?!”

“That’s for all the times that you hurt Jaemin’s feelings in the past,”

“What about all the times that he hurt my feelings too?! You didn’t need to kick me!” he hisses, glaring at the much too smug man before him.

“You’ll be fine. You’ll heal.” Renjun deadpans.

It’s as Jeno glowers at Renjun smugly drinking his tea, that Jaemin finally returns and takes note of the situation – Jeno still clutching his leg and muttering under his breath.

“J-Jeno! Are you okay?!” Jaemin calls out, quickening his strides to kneel before Jeno and check his bruise.

“Just peachy,” he grits out, glaring at Renjun, as Jaemin fusses over him.

“Renjun, what did you do?!” the blond demands with a scowl, turning around to reprimand his friend, “You promised me that you’d behave!”

Renjun only rolls his eyes.

“Trust me, I could have done **so** much worse.”

Jeno doesn’t doubt his words. Renjun is not one to be underestimated.

Huang Renjun is the devil incarnate who just so happens to look like an angel in disguise. Lee Jeno now has a begrudging level of respect for the Chinese man. If there’s one thing about Renjun, it’s that he’s fiercely loyal and very protective over the people that he treasures.

“On the bright side, now you’ve officially gotten my blessing.” He says with an angelic smile, “All the best in your **relationship**! Don’t fuck it up!”

They leave the café not long afterwards, seemingly at a loss for words after their encounter with Renjun took that unexpected turn. Somehow, the air between them feels awkward as they walk side by side. It’s been a while since their silences felt suffocating instead of comfortable. Something has changed between them, but neither of them can pinpoint what exactly it is.

They should be feeling relieved that Renjun gave them the go-ahead, but instead, it feels as if there is something left unsaid.

_But what more can they really say at this point?_

“So, uh…That could have gone a lot worse,” Jaemin mutters with a grimace. Jeno squints at him in disbelief.

_That's all that he has to say at a time like this?_

“Excuse me,” Jeno glowers at him, “What do you mean worse?!”

Jaemin has the common sense to look sheepish.

_Okay, maybe that was not the best choice of words at this moment._

“I did try to warn you, okay?!” Jaemin whines, raising his hands in a placating manner – not wanting to tick the elder off any further.

“That should have gone much better than it actually did,” Jeno grouses grumpily, “You did not tell me that he would inflict bodily harm on me!”

“In my defence,” Jaemin mumbles, fiddling with the hem of his sweater and looking anywhere but at Jeno, “I didn’t think that he’d actually kick you!”

“In that case, you clearly don’t know your so-called best friend as well as you think you do,” Jeno huffs with a roll of his eyes, “Now I have the bruise to show for it!”

“Don’t be such a baby,” Jaemin chides him, “It’s not that bad,”

But then Jaemin just can’t seem to help himself when he grumbles under his breath, “I’m sure your ego is more bruised than your leg,”

Unfortunately, Jeno picks up what he says and narrows his eyes at him, his lips upturned into a scowl.

“I’m sure that my bruise is bigger than your brain, but you don’t see me bringing that up either,” he seethes pointedly.

Jaemin stops walking and turns to balk at him - his jaw dropped at the absolute audacity of this asshole. The gall of this guy never ceases to amaze Jaemin.

_He just **had** to go there! Oh no he didn’t!_

“Are you really insulting my intelligence right now?!” Jaemin screeches, his hands on his hips as he braces himself to give Jeno a piece of his mind.

“I could insult a lot more things about you, but I’m too much of a gentleman to do so,” Jeno responds smugly, undeniably enjoying the fact that he has gotten under Jaemin’s skin.

The blond takes a deep breath and tries to reel in his lost composure. He can totally keep his cool here. He will not let Jeno rile him up.

_Jeno is certainly not as much of a gentleman as he thinks he is. The thought of him being a gentleman is laughable enough as is._

“You’re a gentleman?” Jaemin rolls his eyes, “What a fucking joke!”

“Funny you say that when you’re the one who’s weak for the gentleman type,” he drawls with a smirk.

Jaemin flushes at his statement – feeling called out. He was hoping that Jeno forgot about that tiny tidbit of information. Curse Renjun for mentioning his ideal type of man. Jeno does not need to know what he likes in a man.

_Why the hell did he feel the need to bring that up now?_

“I will not have you judging my tastes in men, Lee Jeno!” he scolds weakly.

“You really are such a princess,” Jeno notes teasingly, “I bet you used to fantasize about having a ‘knight in shining armour’ too,”

_Is Jeno a psychic or was Jaemin really that obvious?_

He does not need to be mocked by Jeno about his childish fantasies. The end of his romance with Mark was a stark reminder about how fairy tale romances were just that…Fairy tales. He thought their relationship would be perfect, but it was anything but perfect.

He wanted Mark to be his Prince Charming **and** his Knight in Shining Armour. Yet now, Mark was neither of those things because they were no longer together. Instead, Jaemin is stuck teaming up with Jeno so he can try to get back in Mark’s good graces again and achieve that happy ending that he knows he deserves with the man he loves. However, all of this is much easier said than done. Especially, seeing as how Mark has found himself another princess to fawn over whilst he’s stuck with a guy who’s more court jester than prince – even if he looks the part of a prince, his attitude is anything but prince-like.

Let it be known that Na Jaemin is no damsel in distress. He doesn’t **need** a man to give his life meaning. He’s above that level. He knows that, he reminds himself all the time but sometimes…He forgets.

As much as he may want Mark back in his life, he knows that he needs to stop putting him on a pedestal. If they do get back together, things between them will have to change – otherwise, they’ll end up falling apart once again. Jaemin still isn’t sure where he went wrong or even what went wrong in the first place. What he does know is that he wants to fix it, he just has no idea where to start. He’s still grappling with the reality that it’s over.

_Can they really fix their relationship? Or was their relationship never meant to be rekindled? Should he give up now or keep going?_

_Was it the end of their love story?_

Maybe it was time for Jaemin to turn to another chapter in his life. Maybe the answer to his question is written in the next few chapters of his life.

“Since you’ve now met Renjun, when am I going to meet Yangyang and Sungchan?” Jaemin asks out of the blue.

Jeno blinks at him in confusion, not expecting the sudden question.

“When do you want to meet them?” he asks back in response.

“Honestly?” Jaemin sighs, “I’d rather not, but I also would rather get this over and done with,”

“Understandable,” Jeno hums in agreement. After meeting with Renjun, Jeno feels like he aged about 5 years from the whiplash of emotions he experienced in those 30 minutes.

“Sungchan would be fine with whenever is convenient, but Yangyang has been on my ass to meet you ASAP,”

Jeno pauses after he says this, but then he shakes his head and chuckles to himself. The next few words are something he never thought he’d ever say in his life.

“For some reason, he’s convinced that you’re the love of my life,” he says with a snort, just the idea behind it is ridiculous.

“The love of your what?!” Jaemin screeches, shellshocked at the statement.

It’s only been one fucking week. How the hell did Yangyang come to that kind of conclusion already?! Why would he believe that Jeno and Jaemin had already fallen in love with each other?!

Jeno full on bellows at his reaction – somehow finding Jaemin’s shock funnier than the assumption itself.

“He’s convinced that this is your typical ‘enemies to loves’ story where the two main characters who never got along in the past, finally manage to put aside their differences and fall madly in love with each other.”

“Sounds like the plot of a crappy fanfiction to me,” Jaemin mutters with a scoff.

“He tends to have a bit of an overactive imagination,” Jeno confirms with a nod.

“Imagine if we actually did end up falling in love with each other,” Jaemin can’t help but let out a chuckle of his own.

“It would be the biggest plot twist of the century,” Jeno comments, “But it also wouldn’t be the worst thing that could happen,”

_What exactly is Jeno trying to imply here?_

_He can’t be serious. Is he saying that it’s okay for them to fall in love?_

“Aren’t you going to make some ridiculous rule about how we shouldn’t fall in love with each other or something like that?”

Jaemin can’t believe the words that are coming out of Jeno’s mouth. Is this the twilight zone or some alternate reality? This can’t be real life.

“Why do we even need to make a rule like that in the first place?” Jeno asks with a raise of his eyebrows, “You’re making it sound as if it’s a bad thing if we did somehow end up liking each other.”

It wouldn’t be a bad thing if they did end up liking each other, but the thought of them genuinely liking each other seems like such a foreign concept for them. How could either of them ever end up falling in love with each other?

It’s strange. It’s bizarre.

“Wouldn’t that be weird?”

Jeno merely shrugs.

“It would be unusual, considering our less than cordial beginnings,” he explains with a furrow of his eyebrows as he mulls over the situation, “But wouldn’t us liking each other just prove that we’re likable?”

“Likable enough to be considered good boyfriend material?” Jaemin inquires quietly.

He had been wondering to himself if he was really boyfriend material at all. Was he likable enough to have a long-lasting loving relationship with?

“Yes, but more importantly than that…It would signify that we would have finally moved on from our exes and that would mean that our exes were never the ones who were meant for us in the first place.”

_If their exes were not the ones for them, then what was the point?_

“Wouldn’t that make this whole plan invalid?” Jaemin questions fiercely, “The whole point of this plan was to get back at our exes!”

“We can still get back at our exes, but we don’t need to get back together with them,”

“Falling in love with each other was never ever supposed to be a consideration!”

“Falling in love is a natural process, you can’t help who you end up falling in love with,” as Jeno says this, his eyes take on a faraway glimmer to them – as if he’s watching a memory. Why does seeing that look on Jeno’s face make his heart ache?

As Jeno turns to look at him, Jaemin feels his breath catch in his throat.

“Na Jaemin, are you worried that you’re going to end up falling in love with me?”

**Love?**

He’s starting to hear this word be brought up way too often, especially in relation to Jeno. Is the universe trying to send him a sign? This has to be some kind of cosmic joke.

The word love and Jeno should not be together in the same sentence.

Jaemin is in love with Mark, **not** Jeno.

What does Jeno have that Mark doesn’t have?

Mark is the love of his life. Mark is everything he wants in a guy. Mark is husband goals. Mark is his first love and he is going to be his last love. There is no competition. There is nothing for him to be worried about because, why would he fall in love with Jeno in the first place? Jeno was never on his radar, Jeno isn’t even in his heart – even if he seems to be on his mind more often than not these past few days.

Regardless of whatever Jeno may be planning to do (or not to do) with Donghyuck, it’s none of his business. Jaemin actually wants to get back together with Mark after all of this is over. Jeno might be trying to move on, but Jaemin can’t bring himself to move on just yet. He won’t let Mark slip away like that without giving their relationship one last try. They can’t just give up on each other without giving it another fair shot. He won’t let this opportunity slip by.

Carrying out this plan with Jeno was just a means to an end. If this doesn’t work out, then he doesn’t know what he’ll do…But maybe it may be the wakeup call he needs to finally throw in the towel and give up. To give up after going through all this trouble doesn’t sit right with him.

Is this really what fate has in store for him?

Regardless of Jeno not having a problem with them liking each other at some point in time, Jaemin has no intentions of reaching to that point. Granted, he certainly doesn’t hate Jeno anymore like he used to – but he also didn’t like him like that either. His current relationship with Jeno is…complicated. If it can even be considered a relationship in the first place. They certainly have ‘something’ going on, that’s for sure.

Like and love were similar, but they were not the same. Whilst Jaemin may arguably ‘like’ Jeno now, he sure as hell doesn’t ‘love’ him. They’re still learning how to tolerate each other for an extended period of time.

But, will he end up falling in love with him in the future? Can he see himself actually dating Jeno for real?

The fact that he’s even asking himself these questions is ridiculous enough as is, and yet…His mind continues to wonder. He can’t help but think about the possibilities now that the idea has been planted in his mind.

The truth is that Jeno isn’t a bad guy. He’s a decent catch actually. He’s more than decent, he’s great. He’s attractive, he’s smart and he’s charming. Okay and yes, he **can** be a gentleman whenever he wants to be.

It’s not impossible to see why someone would fall for him (and fall for him hard) – but Jaemin doesn’t want to be that person. Jaemin can’t allow himself to be that person. He has to focus on one man only. He can’t afford to get side tracked with unnecessary burdensome feelings.

There shouldn’t be any feelings involved in this arrangement.

Sure, maybe platonic feelings would be okay, but romantic feelings? That’s surely a recipe for disaster. That would turn this hot mess of a plan into an even bigger mess that he can hardly bring himself to comprehend. They’re better off as being acquaintances, maybe friends at best, but not lovers.

Jeno and him wouldn’t work out like that anyways. So why should he even entertain the possibility? It should remain a possibility and not a solution.

Instead of asking himself if he’ll ever fall in love with Jeno, what will he do if Jeno ever happens to fall in love with him?

Now this is the question that actually makes him pause.

His heart races at the thought and his face warms.

He doesn’t want to think about it, he shouldn’t be thinking about it, but he’s thinking about it.

Jaemin and Jeno shouldn’t be falling in love with each other. It shouldn’t happen. They aren’t meant to happen.

This isn’t how the plan is supposed to go. This isn’t a part of the plan.

_What do you do when the person that you’re fake dating to get back at your ex develops feelings for you?_

Jaemin has no idea what the solution to this question is, but he knows that he’ll need to figure it out soon because he has a strong feeling that this plan isn’t going to go according to plan.

This plan hasn’t even been going the way he expected it to be go from the beginning. The deeper and deeper they delve into this plan, the more Jaemin realizes that he may very well be in over his head.

He is so out of his element and it hardly knows what to do with himself at times.

How the hell is he going to keep his cool when his mind is in turmoil? This isn’t what he wanted to happen.

Lee Jeno is nothing but trouble for his heart.

A few hours later - after Jeno dropped him off at home - he finds himself at the nearest fast-food joint because he’s craving something greasy and he would rather go out for a bit than continue to sit at home and stew in his traitorous thoughts. He figures that some fresh air may do him some good and maybe all the calories from his meal will put him in a food coma that will knock him right out so he can stop thinking about all the unwanted feelings that this fake relationship has thrust upon him.

He doesn’t really pay attention to his surrounding as he enters, the place isn’t as packed as it usually is, so there aren’t many customers to see. He heads to the counter to quickly place his order and waits idly to the side.

“I can’t believe my luck! It’s just the guy that I’ve been dying to meet all week!” a voice yells from behind him in excitement. Jaemin doesn’t even realize that he’s the one being addressed until he feels someone tapping his shoulder and he turns around to see the smiling face of Liu Yangyang, one of Jeno’s best friends.

Jaemin is taken aback by his sudden appearance, a little unsure as to how to react, but he smiles pleasantly nonetheless. Just like how Jeno had to make nice with Renjun, Jaemin knows that he’ll have to do the same with Yangyang – he has to make a good impression as well. So, whilst he may not be in the mood to entertain a conversation with anyone, he doesn’t want to come across as rude.

“Hi Yangyang, I wish we met in a more formal setting,” he greets the younger man, extending his arm out for a handshake that the other readily returns – even shaking his hand way more enthusiastically than necessary.

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it! I’m just glad to finally see you in person! Jeno has really been holding back on letting us hang out with you,” Yangyang muses with a pout.

“Because you’re annoying and I don’t want you scaring him off,” adds a voice that he’s much too familiar with by now and he feels a toned arm wrap itself around his waist. He’s pulled into the warmth of Jeno’s muscular frame and gets a faint whiff of his spicy heady cologne. Automatically, his body relaxes and he leans into his side more comfortably.

Just when did he start to let his guard down around Jeno like this so easily? How did they effortlessly slip into their roles as a couple so seamlessly even though they had no idea that the other was going to be around?

“Don’t be rude, Jeno,” Jaemin chastises him lightly, “There’s nothing wrong with him being a little eager,”

“You say this now, but wait until you actually get to know him. He’s like a pest that you just can’t get rid of,”

“I am right here you know!” Yangyang wails, “I’m not that bad!”

“I know,” Jeno drawls, “But why trash talk you behind your back when I can do it right to your face,”

“Ugh, you’re such a jerk!” Yangyang huffs.

“Jeez Jeno, you could be a little nicer to him,” Jaemin says with a giggle.

Jeno rolls his eyes fondly, “He knows that I’m mean because I love him,”

There’s that ‘love’ word again and immediately, Jaemin is reminded of his troublesome thoughts from earlier – especially now that he’s within Jeno’s grasp and being introduced to his best friend as if this was a naturally progressing normal relationship. At the rate they’re going, he wonders how long they’ll be able to keep this farce up. It’s already beginning to feel way too real for his liking. Things are progressing rapidly.

The server announces that Jaemin’s order is ready but before he can reach to collect it, Jeno manoeuvres them around so that he can be the one to collect the items instead. How does Jeno always manage to take him by surprise with these unexpected gentlemanly gestures? They never fail to make Jaemin weak.

_Or maybe he does them precisely because he knows how Jaemin really feels about them?_

“How did you two end up getting together anyways?” Yangyang asks out of curiosity, “I’ve been itching to find out what really went down! Don’t spare any juicy details! I’m all ears!”

Jaemin glances at Jeno, only to find the brunet already staring at him with a contemplative look on his face.

Is Jeno going to answer or should he say something instead? How does he even answer this question without giving anything away? How is he supposed to act?

Jeno must sense Jaemin’s internal struggles, because he steps in to respond.

“It’s not anything dramatic, we just came to a mutual realization and decided to try getting to know each other better,”

He makes it sound so trivial, but in essence, that is the gist of their arrangement. Aside from the fact that they’re only doing this because of their exes and not because of themselves. At the end of the day, everything seems to come back to their exes.

“That sounds so anticlimactic!” Yangyang groans, “I wanted something spicier than that since you two were making out and all that good stuff,”

Jaemin flushes as he remembers how Jeno ravaged his mouth on that fated Friday just one week ago. Then, he and Jeno were at a party, now they’re here at a fast-food joint.

“I highly doubt Jaemin wants to tell you about **all** the _salacious_ things that we got up to right after that,” Jeno replies smugly with a smirk, as if they actually did anything after Jeno walked him back to his place. They haven’t done anything more than make out only a handful of times.

Why is Jeno trying to give Yangyang the impression that there is way more going on than there really is? But then again, isn’t that the point? They should be letting people know that things are progressing between them – that’s what this whole plan is all about.

It’s not as if he and Jeno are ever going to end up having sex. There is no need for them to ever go that far.

Mark has been the only guy that he’s had sex with – seeing as they lost their virginities to each other - and he plans to keep it that way. Though he has heard rumours of Jeno’s prowess in the bedroom and it ignites a curiosity within him. Not that he’s ever thought about him and Jeno in bed together, but he supposes that if it ever did happen, then it probably won’t be the worst sexual experience he’ll have.

“With the amount of pent-up sexual tension you two have built up over the years, you’re probably fucking every chance you get!” Yangyang teases.

Jaemin flushes at the insinuation.

Whilst he and Mark may have been sexually active throughout their relationship, they never ‘went at it like rabbits’ like other horny couples who couldn’t keep their hands off of each other and they were pretty vanilla for the most part.

_Oh God, what if Mark was disappointed about how dull their sex life was?_

Jaemin had always thought they had a healthy and perfectly normal sex life, but now he’s having second thoughts. Their sex life should have been more exciting than it actually was considering the fact that they were now on their own at university and free to do whatever they wanted – as often as they wanted. Instead of fucking every day, they fucked maybe once or twice a week. How pathetic was that?

“No offense,” Jaemin clears his throat, face still red from embarrassment, “How often we fuck or don’t fuck is **not** up for discussion,”

This is not the type of conversation that he wants to be having right now or ever, if he has a choice.

He can feel Jeno’s eyes on him as Yangyang sputters apologies. He knows that Jeno can sense his shift in mood, he can feel the gears in the elder’s head turning as he eyes the blond worriedly.

“And I think that’s all for tonight,” Jeno concludes, shooting Yangyang a glare and the younger one raises his hands in a placating manner.

“Jaemin, do you want me to take you home? Your food must be getting cold by now.”

He snaps his head up to look at Jeno, nodding in gratitude at the offer. Once again, Jeno takes his hand into his and holds his order in the other hand. They bid Yangyang farewell and make their way to the entrance.

Unfortunately (or fortunately), their exit couldn’t have been any more perfectly timed – because just as they were leaving the building, they run right into another couple that just happen to be exiting the ice cream parlour across from them at the same time.

Who is the couple in question? None other than their infamous exes.

It is the first time that they are seeing them together outside of university, ever since they put this plan in motion.

This was the perfect opportunity for them to show off their fake relationship and show how unaffected they were - instead they find themselves silently sizing up the other couple.

Mark and Donghyuck are still wrapped up in each other, looking every bit like a lovey-dovey couple who just went out on a date. They are evidently surprised to see Jeno and Jaemin together, maybe a bit too surprised than they should have been.

“Jaemin,” Mark greets cordially enough.

“Mark,” Jaemin replies with a strained smile.

“Jeno,” Donghyuck mutters with an eye roll.

“Donghyuck,” Jeno responds coolly.

_None of them wanted to be in this situation. Could this be anymore fucking awkward? They were supposed to be taking control of the situation, not standing around waiting for someone else to make the first move._

“Well, don’t you two look cozy,” Donghyuck says with a snort.

“I could say the same about you two,” Jeno retorts, narrowing his eyes.

“Uh yeah, ha ha, we’ve been kind of seeing each other,” Mark interjects, eyeing Jeno and Donghyuck warily. He seems aware that those two didn’t end their relationship on the best note. Donghyuck snuggles up to Mark’s side and shoots Jeno a superior look. Jeno purses his lips and pokes at his cheek with his tongue – a habit that he does when he’s irritated.

“Yes, so we’ve heard,” Jaemin adds in a clipped tone. He takes note of Mark’s around Donghyuck’s waist. He belatedly realizes that the red and blue jacket that Donghyuck has on looks startlingly familiar – because it’s the same jacket that he used to steal from Mark all the time when they were still together.

The sight sends a pang of pain to his heart.

He wonders if Mark thought of him before giving Donghyuck that jacket to wear or maybe he didn’t even care. Why would he get sentimental over a jacket? He could have very well forgotten all about that.

Jaemin squeezes Jeno’s hand unconsciously and Jeno squeezes back just as hard, it brings him a small amount of comfort and reminds him that they’re in this together. Mark’s eyes zero in on their linked hands, his brows furrowing in contemplation and he shifts closer to Donghyuck, whilst Donghyuck tightens his grip on Mark’s arm.

“We’ve also heard that you two are _apparently_ seeing each other as well,” Donghyuck snips with a huff, “We’ll see how long that lasts.”

Something about his tone rubs Jaemin the wrong way, maybe it’s the jealousy within him that hates the fact that he’s the one with Mark now or maybe it’s because he’s been acting unnecessarily haughty. Whatever it is, it ticks Jaemin off and he knows that the next few words out of his mouth are not going to be pretty.

“There is absolutely nothing wrong with us seeing each other,” Jaemin grits out, “If anything, it shows that our tastes have improved from our past,”

Jeno chuckles and shakes his head. It’s always a sight to see when Jaemin gets feisty. It’s so very ironic because Jaemin’s choice of words are the same thing he said to him at the party. No one wants to think of themselves as a downgrade. If there’s one thing that Donghyuck hates, it’s being looked down upon.

“H-How dare you?! Just what are you trying to say here?!” Donghyuck demands, already riled up.

“I believe he’s saying that we’re the ones who’ve made the upgrade,” Jeno answers silkily, “Honestly, I can’t say that I disagree with him there,”

“I was literally the love of your life!” Donghyuck hisses at him, the rage surrounding him almost palpable.

“Yes, emphasis on **was** ,” Jeno scoffs at him, “I’ve moved on and apparently so have you…You probably moved on long before we even broke up.”

That shuts Donghyuck right up as he sputters for a response and Mark pales at the insinuation. Jeno hadn’t meant to go that far, but now that the statement is right out there in the open, he doesn’t regret saying it. This was always something that he couldn’t help but wonder about after their break up. The timing was much too convenient for it to not be suspicious.

“Mark was also the love of my life and he told me that he’d never leave me, but look at where we are now,” Jaemin states quietly, his gaze distant and suddenly feeling drained from this encounter. This is way more drama than he wants to be involved in for tonight.

“Nana, Jaem, no that’s not –” Mark is at a loss for words, he reaches his hand out towards him only to drop it afterwards. He sighs and shakes his head; this isn’t the time to be getting into that – especially with Jaemin being so close to Jeno.

Jaemin turns his head away from them and sends a pleading look to Jeno who nods at him in return. It’s as if they’re having a silent conversation with just their eyes – their level of communication has been evolving since they’ve been observing each other much more closely. 

“As pleasant as this conversation has **not** been, I think it’s time for us to take our leave now,” Jaemin dismisses them airily, “Enjoy the rest of your date or whatever it is that you’re planning to do,”

He spins around on his heel and walks off with Jeno trailing behind him, hand in hand.

When they’re some distance away, Jeno stares at him with something akin to pride and chuckles, “You’re something else, you know that?”

“I am many things, Lee, you’ll need to be more specific than that,” Jaemin mumbles, his mind still distracted by the earlier events.

“It’s not often that someone manages to knock Lee Donghyuck down a few pegs,” Jeno notes, he’s impressed that Jaemin managed to hold his own.

“Yeah, well someone had to do it,” Jaemin says with a smirk. His gaze becomes contemplative and he nibbles on his bottom lip as he tries to find the words that he wants to say.

“Jeno, thank you,”

This has Jeno pausing his stride to look at Jaemin in consideration. He hadn’t expected him to say that. Jaemin has never thanked him for anything out of the blue like this before.

“What are you thanking me for?” Jeno asks quietly.

“For being here, for being with me,” Jaemin answers, looking down at his feet, his cheeks growing warm.

“Didn’t think you’d actually thank me for that,” Jeno whispers.

“Despite whatever impressions you may have of me, Lee, I do remember my manners from time to time. I’m not ungrateful,” he says with a pout and it’s honestly one of the cutest things that Jeno’s seen. He never thought he’d see the day where he finds something that Na Jaemin does is cute.

“Speaking of remembering,” Jeno begins thoughtfully, choosing his next few words carefully, “I want you to remember that you’re more than your previous relationship.”

Jaemin’s eyes widen and he snaps his head up to look at Jeno – probably to determine whether or not the elder is being serious – but Jeno means every word. He wants Jaemin to not put himself down over all the things that went wrong in his relationship. He wants Jaemin to remember that no matter what happened in the past, he has no obligation to be tied to that person anymore.

Jaemin has been blaming himself ever since the breakup, restlessly wondering what he did wrong and how he could have prevented it. He’s even been comparing himself to Donghyuck and questioning if he needs to change himself in some way to be more lovable.

He doesn’t even realize that he’s crying until he notices that his vision has become blurry and he feels the wetness on his cheeks. He loathes the moments when he gets emotional like this, but he can’t help it. He doesn’t even care that he’s crying in front of Jeno right now. He’s letting his enemy witness him at his most vulnerable

“Come here,” Jeno murmurs soothingly, pulling him into his arms and allowing Jaemin to bury his face into his chest. Jaemin nuzzles into the calming heady scent that he’s starting to recognize as being Jeno’s signature cologne – it’s both intoxicating and comforting. He closes his eyes and focuses on his breathing as Jeno slowly rocks them from side to side. They stay like until Jaemin is no longer in tears and has calmed down significantly. This night has tossed him into a whirlwind of emotions. His thoughts are all over the place. So much has happened in such a short space of time. He’s both mentally and physically exhausted.

Now here with Jeno, he wonders to himself…

_How the hell did he end up finding comfort in the arms of his enemy?_

Jeno has become so much more to him over the course of a week. He’s become a source of comfort and comradery. There is so much more to him than the character he thought he knew in the past. He’s been a steady presence in his life and it feels so normal to have him around now. It’s ironic how it feels like it was so long ago that they couldn’t even stand the sight of each other and weren’t even on speaking terms. He wants to forget about that time, he wants to move on from the past.

Jaemin doesn’t want them to go back to being enemies, he wants to keep Jeno around for as long as possible. But if Jeno continues to keep this act up, Jaemin can’t guarantee that he’ll want to only be friends.

Lee Jeno is working his way into his heart and he has absolutely no idea what to do about it. Lee Jeno is no good for his heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, this chapter was a bit lengthier than the others because I crammed three chapters into one. This chapter also signifies the end of week one in nomin's fake relationship. From here on out, things will be picking up speed as they become more comfortable around each other and gradually fall in love. I'm so excited for the next few chapters because we're going full speed ahead and things are going to get intense! Until next time! Thank you so much for reading! 😘
> 
> (Come follow me on twt @starofaeries)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You want to invite me over for dinner?” Jeno questions him, looking all too much like the cat that ate the canary. 
> 
> “Not if you’re gonna make a big deal about it!” Jaemin hisses, already wishing that he could bury himself in a hole. 
> 
> “So, I shouldn’t expect candle lights and slow music?” Jeno pouts at him and bats his eyelashes playfully. Jaemin is so done with him and his antics.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are getting steamy with this update! It's going to get even hotter from here on out. I've added two new scenes in this chapter. I hope you enjoy the story! 😉

There’s a twitter notification alert that pops up on his screen from Mark – because yes, he’s still hopelessly keeping up with his ex like the lovesick fool that he is. He quickly clicks to see what was posted only to feel his heart sink in his chest. Now, he wishes that he wasn’t so eager to find out.

Mark posted about Donghyuck.

Of course, he’d post about Donghyuck, he and Donghyuck were the ones in a relationship whilst he and Jaemin were no more. What else was he expecting from the elder? Why wouldn’t he want to post cute things about the boy that he’s dating?

Jaemin wants to smack himself for being so ridiculous. He feels so silly but he can’t help it. He’s still in love with Mark, even if he’s not so sure that Mark is still in love with him. He can’t turn his feelings for Mark off just like that because they’re no longer together. He wishes it were only that simple – but of course, life is never that simple.

Just to rub salt in the wound, Donghyuck responds to Mark’s post with a post of his own.

Mark said that Donghyuck is _‘the sun who makes his days brighter’_. Whilst Donghyuck said that Mark is _‘the moon who makes his nights better’_. It’s obvious that they took the pics in the same location as well, complete with matching clothing.

It’s so sappy, so typical, so cringey…and Jaemin is so utterly jealous because he wants what they have.

He’s jealous and he hates it. He doesn’t want to feel like this. Because the longer he sits and stews over the feelings, the more he feels the negative emotions of pettiness overwhelm him – so he calls the first person who comes to mind to assist him with his dilemma.

“Lee Jeno!” he yells into the phone as soon as the call connects, “We need to post some pics now!”

Jeno snorts, no doubt unamused by his spontaneous demand, “Excuse me?”

Jaemin huffs, trying to temper down his anger. He needs to try a softer approach. He can’t just make demands like that and expect a positive response – especially from Jeno. Knowing the elder, he will reject the demand just because he knows it will piss him off – and he so **loves** to piss Jaemin off when he’s in the mood.

“Can we please post some pics?” he mumbles.

“Pics of what?” Jeno sounds genuinely confused and a little bit concerned – probably with how sudden Jaemin’s request was.

“Of the both of us…Together,” Jaemin grits out, cringing at his tone.

“Uhhh…Why?” Now Jeno is even more confused.

Jaemin wishes that Jeno didn’t ask him that because now he feels even sillier having to explain his motives. He no longer feels as incensed as he did a few minutes ago, but he knows that if he doesn’t tell Jeno the truth – or at least give him a sensible enough answer – then he won’t be able to convince him to do what he asked – or to even let the issue go.

He heaves a sigh and steels himself for Jeno’s reaction to his response, “Because Mark and Donghyuck just posted something and I don’t want them to outdo us,”

Jeno is quiet for a few seconds, processing his words.

“Wouldn’t it be obvious that we’re only posting something just because they posted first?”

Trust Jeno to be the voice of reason in a situation like this. Too bad Jaemin doesn’t feel like being reasonable right now. When he’s hurt, his rationality tends to flee out the window.

“I don’t care,” he grumbles petulantly, “I’m feeling petty,”

“Yes, that’s one of your many charming qualities,” Jaemin can sense the sarcasm dripping from Jeno’s words.

“Hah, so funny,” Jaemin grouses back with his own sarcasm, “Now are you in or are you out?”

Once again, Jeno is silent, but then he sighs in resignation.

“Even if I do agree to this, we don’t even have any pics together,”

Jaemin smiles victoriously, it may not be a yes, but it’s certainly not a no. It means that Jeno is warming up to the idea.

“That’s fine, we don’t need to have pics together, we just need pics of each other,” Jaemin explains giddily, “Now send me a cute selfie!”

Jeno chuckles and Jaemin can just imagine him shaking his head, “Whatever you want, Princess,”

Even though they discuss what to post and how they should post it, Jeno manages to take Jaemin by surprise because he goes completely renegade and doesn’t post what Jaemin expected him to – in fact, he doesn’t even use the picture that Jaemin sent him. Honestly, Jaemin has absolutely no fucking clue where Jeno even got that picture of him in the first place.

Jaemin posted a typical _“there is no one else I’d rather spend my night with but you”_ along with a selfie of Jeno in a white hoodie. But Jeno totally one upped him by blindsiding him with:

_Even when you’re feeling down and it seems as if life isn’t going the way you wanted it to, I’m going to be there by your side, every step of the way._

That caption is more heartfelt than anything Jaemin would have thought to come up with for this moment and it makes his heart flutter. The fact that he paired it with a picture of Jaemin in his favourite mint hoodie on a day where he was feeling out of sorts, makes it even more meaningful. It’s very thoughtful actually, much more thoughtful than he would have expected from him.

How is it that Lee Jeno constantly manages to take him by surprise?

Now he’s feeling flustered and rightfully so because Lee Jeno has turned his world on his axis. He can hardly focus on Mark’s post when he has this post about himself to freak out over now.

He’s dialling Jeno again before he can even stop himself.

“Jeno, that is not what I told you to post!” his words come tumbling out of his mouth in a jumbled mess.

Jeno is notably smug, “Oh, I am well aware of that.”

“Where did you even get that picture?”

Jeno pauses for a bit, like he’s considering his words, “I took it myself when I was heading to my next class,”

Even so, Jaemin still can’t understand his motives.

“But, why would you even take that picture?!” he whines, “I look horrible,”

“I took it because I wanted to,” Jeno says simply, nothing more to it than that.

“And no, you don’t look horrible,” he adds quietly, “You actually looked kind of cute that day,”

Jaemin’s cheeks heat up at his comment.

_Did Jeno just compliment him?_

“D-did you just call me cute?!” he squeals, he can barely believe his ears.

“Did I just make you stutter?” Jeno laughs, “I said you looked _‘kind of cute’_ , I didn’t call you cute,”

Despite his denial, Jaemin is pretty sure that he has an idea of where Jeno is trying to get at with his words. He can read between the lines when he wants to. Jeno totally thinks that he’s cute and Jaemin is totally going to call him out about it.

“You think I’m cute, don’t you?” Jaemin teases, “It’s okay to admit it,”

“I’ll admit that I find you cute when you finally admit that you find me hot,” Jeno drawls.

So much for him getting Jeno to admit anything. There is no way in hell that Jaemin is going to admit that he finds Jeno attractive to his face unless Jeno does it first.

“Not gonna happens,” he replies adamantly.

“We’ll see about that, Princess,” from Jeno’s tone, Jaemin knows that he doesn’t believe him – but honestly, Jaemin isn’t even sure if he believes himself either. How much longer will he be able to deny it out loud when it’s difficult enough to deny it within the recesses of his mind?

Especially when he scrolls through his own camera roll to gaze at his own secret picture that he took of Jeno – the elder decked out in denim and in his own zone with his earbuds in not paying any attention to the world around him. Jaemin had no idea what overtook him at that moment to snap a picture of him – maybe it was the expression on his face, maybe it was his outfit or maybe it was because he liked seeing Lee Jeno being his devastatingly handsome self.

Either way, he’s taking this picture with him to the grave. Lee Jeno does not need to know that Jaemin is just as much of a simp as he is.

_…And what Jaemin doesn’t know is that wasn’t the only picture that Jeno took of him on that day…_

There is something that changes between them in the second week of their fake relationship. It isn’t anything major, but it’s noticeable enough. It’s a subtle kind of shift – the kind that you have to really read between the lines to realize that it’s there. Once you’ve noticed it, it’s hard to ignore.

Their interactions become a little softer and more affectionate. There isn’t as much hostility between them, even if they do still bicker from time to time – as is expected of them, that is their dynamic after all. It’s impossible for them to not argue at some point when they’re so used to clashing. Regardless, there is a comfortable atmosphere around them – they’re more companiable now, no longer combative. It’s not quite romantic but it’s definitely more than something that is strictly platonic.

It’s a change, not a colossal change, but it’s a welcomed change. It’s a relief for the both of them. This is the kind of progression that they needed and they hadn’t even realized it yet.

There are more hugs and kisses (mainly pecks on the cheek or a chaste touch of their lips – nothing nearly as intense as their previous two heated make-outs). Hand-holding has become second-nature and their smiles are less strained – definitely more natural and quicker to appear.

Their conversations seem to flow a little better, but they also revel in the peace from the silences that settle when they find themselves lost in thought or merely enjoying each other’s presence. There is a sense of solidarity between them with both of them being introverts – they don’t have to fill the silences with words because they already understand.

They even end up hanging out with each other outside of school – which is exactly how Jeno ends up ‘escorting’ Jaemin on his weekly grocery shopping adventure on a Wednesday – Jaemin claims that it’s best to go midweek instead of on the weekend in order to avoid the rush and because there are discounts on certain products. Jeno, on the other hand, only goes shopping when he’s running low on food and even so, his list of items is nowhere near as extensive as Jaemin’s. It’s obvious that Jaemin came prepared, appearing every bit as the seasoned shopper that he claims to be.

Jaemin unhurriedly browses through the aisles as he reviews his list and scrutinizes each item he picks up before he places it in the trolley, whilst Jeno dutifully pushes said trolley behind him – feeling almost like a lost puppy trailing after its owner. For some reason, even though he isn’t doing much, he doesn’t feel as bored as he expected to – probably because seeing Jaemin scuttle about is entertaining enough for him.

“Why are you buying all of this stuff?” Jeno asks curiously, as he sees Jaemin putting different types of cake, pie and cookie mixes in the trolley, “Are you planning to have a bake sale?”

“For your information, I happen to like baking, especially for others,” Jaemin informs him, “It relaxes me,”

“I guess what baking is for you, is what boxing is for me.” Jeno surmises with a nod, continuing to watch Jaemin – dressed cosily in another one of his oversized sweaters and jeans. He’s distracted by how adorable he looks with his sweater paws sliding down his fingers every time he grabs an item, how he stretches up on his tippy toes to reach an item on the top shelf or when he bites his glossy lips in contemplation as he scrutinizes products against each other. Maybe he just thinks that Jaemin is adorable in general, when he’s not being a brat.

Whilst Jeno’s thoughts are on the softer side, Jaemin’s thoughts are quite the opposite…

The image of a hot and sweaty Jeno punching a boxing bag comes to the forefront of Jaemin’s mind as soon as the brunet brings up the comparison between them and he tries to ignore how that thought makes him feel a little hot under the collar. He tugs at his neck of his sweater and hopes that the back of his neck isn’t flushed. He still can’t forget how buff Jeno is under all of his clothes – he is ridiculously ripped. Thinking about how hot Jeno is shouldn’t be making him feel hot like this. He’s just about ready to douse himself in a bucket of ice cold water.

It’s funny how neither of them realizes that they’re more attracted to each other than they think they are.

They move on from the baking aisle to the snack aisle. After the tenth pack of sugary snacks that Jaemin places in the cart, Jeno begins to notice a pattern – one that is very high in fructose.

“You clearly seem to have a sweet tooth but yet your coffee is the bitterest thing on earth,” Jeno points out, shaking his head in disbelief.

_How the hell does Jaemin eat all this sugar? Does he not get a sugar rush afterwards? Does he crash and burn after the high?_

“I get cravings and when I get cravings, I tend to want to nibble on something sweet,” Jaemin explains in a matter-of-fact-tone without looking up from his list.

“Are you pregnant or something?” the brunet deadpans with a snort.

“Don’t be an imbecile,” Jaemin finally tears his eyes away from his list to glare at him, “Pregnant women aren’t the only ones who can have cravings, they’re completely normal.”

“Maybe I should start calling you Sugar Plum Princess instead,” Jeno muses out loud and the mere visual has Jeno barking out a laugh. Jaemin narrows his eyes at him and crosses his arms over his chest. Jaemin may think he looks intimidating in this pose, but Jeno thinks that is far from the truth, he looks more petulant than intimidating. If Jeno ever says this out loud, he knows that Jaemin will not hesitate to bite his head off.

“Sugar Plum Princess, seriously?” Jaemin asks with a roll of his eyes, completely unamused, “That’s the best you can do?”

“I’d say it’s quite fitting, don’t you think?” he retorts teasingly and when he smiles, his eyes crinkle at the corners – Jaemin deflates a little at how disarming that smile is and puffs his cheeks out in a pout.

_Why the hell does he need to look that cute for when he’s being an annoying asshole?_

He turns away so that he doesn’t have to look see that smile anymore.

“I think you’re a freaking court jester,” Jaemin mumbles sulkily as he stomps over to the next item on his list, ignoring the amused chuckle from a certain brunet. Jeno is always teasing him over something, he’s getting way more used to the elder than he bargained for these days. His teases don’t sting as much as they used to because he knows that there isn’t any venom behind them now unlike before.

“Of course, you’d buy something like this,” Jeno says as Jaemin takes up a bag of pink and white bunny-shaped marshmallows.

“Stop judging my tastes, you uncultured swine!” Jaemin huffs and throws the bag in the trolley.

What Jeno also won’t tell Jaemin, is that he thinks that the bunny snacks suit him very much because of how much he reminds him of a bunny. Both of them are cute.

They continue their shopping endeavour – with Jaemin observing which was the best product to buy and Jeno observing Jaemin.

“I don’t know why I had you pegged for more of a health nut,” the brunet states, more to himself than to Jaemin, but the blond hears him anyways.

“I do try to eat healthy, but it gets tiresome to stick to that kind of diet all the time, especially when you’re a university student on a budget,” Jaemin clarifies calmly, “Most days, I just try to have at least one balanced meal and leave it at that.”

“Ah, I can understand that, but unfortunately, my diet usually consists of whatever junk food I feel for at the moment, a ready-made meal or just ramen,” the elder admits abashedly, rubbing the back of his neck. He doesn’t mean to eat like a pig, but that’s what ends up happening more often than not – so he ends up spending more time working out to burn off those calories.

“Are you saying that you don’t really eat anything more substantial than ramen on the days where you actually cook?” the younger asks in mild concern, his brows furrowed worriedly.

“I’m not the world’s greatest chef and I don’t usually have the time nor luxury to cook, so I buy what I can,” he says with a shrug. He can help himself out in the kitchen, but he sticks to simple dishes – the simpler, the better, because he doesn’t need to burn his frat down. There have been enough close calls with other frat members nearly setting the kitchen on fire to make Jeno wary enough to not take any chances.

“Well, if that’s the way you live, I might just take pity on you one day and cook you a meal,” Jaemin offers absent-mindedly, only to freeze once he realizes what he just said – his eyes widening and his cheeks reddening in embarrassment. He wants to take back his words, but he knows that it’s too late for that, especially with the way that the elder is smirking at him. This is what happens when he runs his mouth before he thinks.

“You want to invite me over for dinner?” Jeno questions him, looking all too much like the cat that ate the canary.

“Not if you’re gonna make a big deal about it!” Jaemin hisses, already wishing that he could bury himself in a hole.

“So, I shouldn’t expect candle lights and slow music?” Jeno pouts at him and bats his eyelashes playfully. Jaemin is **so** done with him and his antics.

“Forget I even said anything!” Jaemin turns on his heel and stalks off to the frozen food section to cool himself down, “You can starve for all I care!”

Before he can get too far, there is a hand on his arm that stops him in his tracks. He gasps at the unexpected motion and whips his head around.

“I know you might not take me seriously when I say this, but I would really appreciate it if you actually did actually want to cook a meal for me,” Jeno says earnestly, all traces of mirth gone from his face.

He’s still learning when to push Jaemin and when to not push him. He’s well aware that the blond wears his heart on his sleeve and gets easily flustered at times. Whilst he does enjoy to rile Jaemin up, he wants to learn how to calm him down as well.

Jeno’s hand slides further down his arm, to hold Jaemin’s hand in his own – his grip warm, firm and calming. Jaemin stares at their joined hands in stunned silence before looking down at his feet - because with Jeno looking at him like this – being so patient and courteous - he feels unexpectedly shy.

_Why does this feel like such an intimate moment?_

Shopping together is such a domestic thing to do and so is cooking for each other. Yet here they are, not only participating in one of these activities, but making plans to do even more together as if this was something completely normal for them – as if they genuinely liked each other, as if they wanted to be together, as if they were actually a couple.

He nervously tucks a stray lock of blond hair behind his ear and swallows – feeling a lump in his throat. They’re not actually together, they don’t have to do any of this. Isn’t this crossing into more intimate territory?

There isn’t any need to go this far, but just because they don’t have to go this far, doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t. They don’t have to play by the rules of the game, they can make their own rules. As long as it’s well within the lines of their boundaries, then everything is okay – they’re not crossing any lines here.

“It’s okay, I don’t mind doing it,” he whispers truthfully, finally glancing up at Jeno just in time to see his lips pull back into a soft sweet smile that makes Jaemin’s heart skip a beat.

Lee Jeno really does have such a pretty smile. Jaemin wants to see him smile like this more often - especially if he’s smiling at him like this.

Na Jaemin looks the prettiest when he gets shy and blushes like this, his cute bunny smile is utterly endearing. Jeno wonders how many times he can make Jaemin blush like this.

They’re already leaving quite the impression on each other; they will only fall deeper from here on out. This is only the beginning for both of them. There are no rules when it comes to the game of love. 

When Friday night finally rolls around once again, Jaemin finds himself dolled up and ready to head out to yet another frat party. Only this time, he’ll be spending his time there with Jeno. In fact, it was Jeno who formally invited him to the party. It’ll be their first social event as a couple – so they need to make an impression.

He feels nervous for some reason, but he wills the butterflies in his stomach to calm the fuck down and let him breathe. There is no need to make a big deal out of this. They’re not actually dating, so it really shouldn’t matter that much. Too bad that doesn’t stop his mind from wondering about all the ‘what-ifs’. He shouldn’t be overthinking any of this, but it’s all he can think about. It seems as if Jeno is constantly on his mind these days and he’s not sure how to feel about that.

_How can he be thinking more about the guy that he’s not in love with than the guy that he’s actually in love with?_

Ever since Jeno entered his life as more than a mere thorn in his side, he’s been throwing Jaemin’s emotions into turmoil. He may no longer hate Jeno, but majority of the time, he has no idea how to feel about him when he makes Jaemin feel way too many emotions at once. It’s bound to give anyone a headache and he would rather not deal with the confusing hot mess because he has a feeling that it will make things even more complicated than they already are. He wants to keep things between them as simple as possible, but each day together, that task seems more and more impossible.

Tonight, he wants to make an impression – so he dresses to impress.

He’s donned in a pair of grey dark washed jeans (with way too many zippers that provide absolutely no purpose except for aesthetically pleasing reasons) and a shimmery off the shoulder sky blue shirt that appears nearly translucent in just the right lighting. He made sure to carefully coif his hair into the perfect effortlessly messy style – as if he just ran his fingers through his fluffy platinum blond hair.

The aim is look amazing without making it obvious that you took way too much time and energy to do so. It’s all about looking effortlessly eye-catching.

He looks damn good and he knows it, so everybody else better recognize that as well. He’s sure that their exes won’t be the only people who’ll feel jealous when they see him with Jeno tonight.

Lee Jeno should count his lucky stars that Na Jaemin is as attractive as he is – quite frankly, he should be grateful that he’s even entertaining him with this outrageous plan in the first place. Whilst Lee Jeno may already look good, Na Jaemin makes him look even better – together, they are visual perfection. Their visuals are undeniable and their charms unmatched. They make one hell of a power couple with how well they balance each other out.

He has no idea what Jeno is wearing - he did mention to him to wear something light blue so that they could match. He wants them to not only act the part of a couple but to look the part as well. But he also knows that convincing Jeno to do something that he doesn’t want to do is one hell of an uphill battle. So, he can only hope that Jeno follows through on his ‘suggestion’ – it would suck if Jaemin put out all this effort only for Jeno to not even meet him half-way.

He texted Jeno about 5 minutes ago, letting him know that he’s arrived, to which the elder replied that he and his friends were downstairs in the den. With his destination in mind, he manoeuvres through the crowd of partygoers – some of whom greet him whilst others ogle and whisper amongst themselves at his appearance. Just another typical reaction when seeing Jaemin at one of these parties, he hates the attention at times but he also loves it. Though to be fair, he only wants the attention of **one** guy in particular right now – even though that guy is not the one he should be focusing on at this time. He could kick himself for that thought but that wouldn’t stop him from thinking it.

“Jaemin, over here!” someone yells to him as soon as he steps into the den – it’s thankfully not as packed as the rest of the frat, but there are still a number of people hanging around. He whips his head up to see Yangyang waving wildly to him along with a few other faces he recognizes from Jeno’s friend group and of course, Jeno himself.

“Come, sit down and join us!”

Jaemin takes a breath, straightens his shoulders and struts his way over confidently, smoothly weaving past people only to realize when he reaches over there that there isn’t much space for him.

“Uh, where do I sit?” he mumbles, eyeing the already occupied couch and chairs. It seems like everyone is already comfortably seated where they are and they make no move to make room for him to sit.

_Do these people expect him to squeeze in between one of them or is he supposed to continue standing?_

“You can sit in my lap,” Jeno offers immediately from where he’s situated in one of armchairs, looking all too much like a king on a throne.

Jaemin is ready to laugh off the suggestion, because he naively thinks that Jeno is just pulling his leg, but the look in his eyes says otherwise - Jeno is **very** serious. Jeno gestures to his lap, even spreading his legs to make more room for him and motions him over with a tilt of his head.

Jaemin is at a loss for what to do, so he hesitates momentarily.

He’s waiting for Jaemin to make his move. He wants to see how far he can push Jaemin – to see where his boundaries lie. Sitting in Jeno’s lap shouldn’t be an issue, they’ve already had their tongues down each other’s throats and had their arms around each other – this should be a piece of cake, just another normal thing that couples do. No big deal. Being this close to each other shouldn’t be a problem. Except, maybe it is a problem – but not for the reasons that it should be.

He gulps and slowly makes his way over to the seated brunet, ignoring the hoots and hollering around him from Jeno’s friends, instead focusing on the way Jeno doesn’t ever take his eyes off of him as he approaches. Jeno’s eyes trail a blazing path down his body, taking in his outfit from head to toe and Jaemin swears that he can feel the heat on his skin with the intensity of that wicked gaze.

Jeno is cleaned up nicely tonight – it seems that he really did take Jaemin’s suggestion into consideration because he’s dressed in a light blue button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to reveal his veiny forearms and dark washed denim jeans that hug his thighs.

Jaemin comes to a stop in front of Jeno. He stands towering over him, looking down at him uncertainly. Jeno peers back up at him, his face unreadable for only a moment but then he smiles cordially and pats his leg. Jaemin sits down delicately, keeping his spine straight and his hands on his knees - being careful not to get too relaxed and put too much of his weight on Jeno. However, his stance doesn’t last long as Jeno snakes an arm around his waist and pulls him back against his chest. What little space between them completely disappears and they are pressed up against each other. This is much closer than Jaemin was expecting them to be tonight simply because he hadn’t anticipated this kind of situation. This feels like another much too intimate moment that is happening much too soon.

Jaemin is sure that his face is on fire and that Jeno can feel how hard his heart is beating through his chest. Being this close to Jeno never fails to make him want to combust.

_How is it that Jeno can manage to make him feel this way? Why does he affect him like this? What on earth is Lee Jeno doing to put him in this kind of state?_

“Don’t tell me that you’re afraid to get too close to me,” Jeno whispers lowly in his ear, quietly enough so that only he can hear. The sensation of his hot breath on his neck makes him shiver unconsciously.

“Is there a reason why I should be afraid?” he whispers back challengingly, as if he is completely unaffected by his proximity. He doesn’t need Jeno to know just how much he puts him on edge.

“Probably of all the things that I could do to you whilst you’re here sitting prettily like this,” Jeno teases, palm slipping from his waist all the way down to his upper thigh, leaving a burning trail in its wake that has Jaemin squirming in his lap.

_This is not the time to get turned on, Na Jaemin._

“What would you do?” he asks, almost breathlessly. Jeno has awakened his curiosity. He wants to know what he’s capable of, against his better judgement – this feels like playing with fire.

He feels Jeno chuckle darkly against his neck, nuzzling his nose into the groove between his neck and his shoulder, “Now, where’s the fun in that if I tell you?”

He has to physically bite his lip to stop the whine that bubbles up in his throat from the frustration of being denied an answer.

_Lee Jeno is such a fucking tease!_ _Why must he tease him like this?_

The man is dangerous and he is well aware of it. Now Jaemin can’t stop thinking about all the things that Jeno could do to him – or rather, all the things that he wants Jeno to do to him. He would let him do so many things to him and then thank him afterwards.

_God, when the hell did he become this horny thinking about Jeno?_

Instead of answering, he turns his body around and tucks his face into Jeno’s neck and inhales the heady scent of his cologne that makes his head spin. He can feel the tension seep out of his system as he relaxes in the brunet’s arms. Jeno’s body is so warm and solid, Jaemin feels so comfortable that he’s worried that he’ll fall asleep like this. 

But then a thought occurs to him…If Jeno can tease him, why can’t he tease him right back?

Jaemin smirks to himself as he thinks of something to turn the tables.

“Jeno,” he croons into the brunet’s neck, grazing his lips over the sensitive skin. He feels Jeno tense beneath him and he can hear him swallow audibly. It seems as if Jeno isn’t as unaffected as he would have liked Jaemin to believe he is.

“Yes, Jaemin?” Jeno finally responds to him, idly tracing patterns on his thigh. Jaemin lifts his legs off the ground to fully tuck his body into Jeno’s, firmly situating himself across his lap.

“I want a beer,” Jaemin mumbles coyly, playing with the collar of Jeno’s shirt – eyeing the hard plane of chest exposed by the few buttons left opened. Jaemin wants to run his fingers down his chest and unbutton the rest of the buttons in his path.

“Ah, do you want me to get you one?” Jeno offers, shifting to get up but Jaemin clings to him.

“No, I want **your** beer,” he emphasizes, pointing at the half-drunk beer in the brunet’s hand.

His response throws Jeno off because he clearly wasn’t expecting to hear that kind of answer.

“Mine?” Jeno blinks dumbly, looking at his beer and then back at the blond.

Jaemin moves his head from Jeno’s shoulder to glance up at him and bats his eyelashes at him, jutting his lips out in a pout. He nods in affirmation at the brunet’s question, eyes sparkling in anticipation. Jeno stares at him blankly, his mouth agape – probably in disbelief that Jaemin is acting like this, because this is a first. Jaemin never acts this way with him, so he can’t fathom this kind of behaviour from the blond. Jaemin has certainly left Jeno speechless just as he was hoping.

Just when he thinks that he’ll probably need to butter up Jeno some more to persuade him to give in to his request, the bottle of beer is handed to him without question. He smiles sweetly at him in thanks, but then his expression changes to something more seductive that sparks a thrill within Jeno. He has his full undivided attention now.

Jaemin holds Jeno’s gaze as he wraps his pouty pink lips around the rim of the beer, sucking all the way down to the neck of the bottle before he throws his neck back and swallowing down the rest of the beer in one go, without letting one drop go to waste. If he’s going to swallow, then he’s going to savour every last drop.

When Jaemin unlatches his lips from the bottle and looks back at Jeno, he finds the brunet’s pupils are completely blown and glazed over – his pupils have dilated to the point where his eyes look dark and the intensity within his eyes is scorching hot. Jeno looks as if he wants to absolutely ruin him and Jaemin would let him do so without hesitation. 

“Are you feeling a little thirsty there, Lee?” he taunts, licking his lips from the remnants of the beer. Jeno’s eyes track the movement of his tongue avidly, like a hawk watching its prey. Having Jeno’s attention on him makes him feel powerful.

“Yes, but not for the beer,” Jeno growls hotly, “You’re a little vixen, aren’t you, Princess?”

Jaemin has never particularly liked when Jeno calls him “princess”, because most of the time he uses it mockingly…But here, it sounds different – almost like a term of endearment or maybe something _naughtier_.

“What can I say?” Jaemin keeps his tone nonchalant, “I can be many things, just depends on the occasion.”

Jeno continues to stare at him, his gaze heated – the grip that he has on Jaemin’s thigh is tight enough to bruise. Jaemin wants his hands all over his body, not just on his thigh.

“What else can you swallow like that?” Jeno rumbles, eyes once again straying to Jaemin’s lips.

Feeling bold, Jaemin leans over to whisper in his ear and trails a lone finger down the exposed patch of chest.

“Maybe you’ll find out if you play your cards right.”

Jeno chuckles darkly and the sound has Jaemin crossing his legs because it lights a fire within his groin – that laugh has no right to sound as sexy as it does.

“What kind of game do you think you’re playing here, Princess?” Jeno asks coolly, lifting his hand to slip underneath the fabric of Jaemin’s shirt to trace along his spine and causing the blond to arch in his hold.

“I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about, Lee Jeno,” he responds breathlessly, distracted by Jeno's touch.

“You know exactly what I mean, Na Jaemin,” he growls, voice low and throaty, “Don’t play coy with me, it’s not as cute as you think it is,”

Jaemin swallows, but doesn’t respond. His eyes don’t leave Jeno’s as the brunet continues his gentle assault on his back. He knows exactly what Jeno is talking about, but he refuses to give in. 

“I’m warning you from now, don’t tempt me like that if you can’t handle me reciprocating,” Jeno cautions, his gaze intense.

“Once again, you act like I can’t handle you,” Jaemin fires back, much too cocky.

“I don’t think you understand exactly what I am capable of,” Jeno retorts casually, his hand curling around the back of Jaemin neck to bring their faces closer together - the proximity is too much, yet not enough. 

“And I think that you underestimate me,” Jaemin whispers, eyes drawn to Jeno’s lips, “Maybe I want to see what you’re supposedly capable of,”

“You’re playing with fire here, Princess,” Jeno rumbles, using his other hand to draw Jaemin even closer to him by his waist, “This is very dangerous territory that you’re going into,”

“Now you’re the one who sounds afraid, Lee,” Jaemin mocks, with faux bravado, eager to push Jeno’s buttons, “Are you worried that you’ll give in to me too easily?”

“You’ve been warned, I hope that you’re prepared, Princess,” Jeno brushes their lips together, a barely there caress but still electrifying nonetheless, “Let’s see what you’re really made of.”

_Na Jaemin has no idea what he's in for when he challenged Lee Jeno to this game of seduction._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I adapted the text conversations into one phone conversations and another face-to-face conversation. Reworking this story from the twitter version has been quite the task but I do appreciate giving this story a fresh feel to it. I like that I can give it a different spin from what I had originally envisioned. If you can't tell by now, I really do enjoy writing this story. Thank you all so much for your support! I hope you look forward to the future updates!
> 
> (Swing by and say hi to me on twitter @starofaeries)

**Author's Note:**

> This story is going to be much longer than I anticipated. I have planned for it to take place over the course of 10 weeks, because I felt like that was a reasonable amount of time for nomin to develop their feelings for each other and understand more about not only each other, but about themselves as well. I want to focus more on the progression of their relationship as opposed to them being fixated over getting back at their exes. 
> 
> I created this story as a way to showcase a different take on the whole enemies to lovers and fake dating tropes, I wanted the characters to be relatable and for the plot to be easy enough to follow. No unnecessary drama and angst here. This story is mainly for self indulgent purposes. I hadn't intended for this to be the first nomin AU I posted, but it is the one that I am currently working on. 
> 
> Let me know your thoughts! Each and every kudos and comment is appreciated! Thank you for reading!
> 
> (Follow me on twitter if you'd like @starofaeries)


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